It is time for last mailbag of 2024 as the Sixers end the year on a surprisingly positive note. They are winners of four straight games and, despite all of the noise, look like a team finding the form they were expected to have from the outset.

Let's get to the questions, which came from my followers on Bluesky:

From @jimborico.bsky.social: Has Jared McCain made himself too valuable to be traded? Considering the additional pieces that would be needed for salary matching, can you think of a reasonable trade that includes McCain and significantly moves the needle on a championship this year? My personal bias is against trading him.

In last week's mailbag, I was asked whether I believe the Sixers view McCain as a building block or if he could be available in trade talks over the next several weeks. Part of my response explained why trading McCain for a commensurate return given how terrific his 23 games were would be immensely difficult:

"If McCain's season is indeed over, I believe the 20-year-old did enough in 23 games to establish himself as a building block for the Sixers, who should be envisioning a Maxey-McCain backcourt leading them into the future. I would be absolutely floored if the team made him available in any talks.

Is that to say the Sixers would refuse to trade McCain for Luka Dončić or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander if they could? Of course not. But considering the new rules governing NBA trades, even if the Sixers wanted to sell high and capitalize on McCain's early brilliance, they would be extremely limited in how they could actually do so.

As I will remind everyone in all trade-related stories, the Sixers are not allowed to take back more salary than they send out in any trade this season. If they traded a player making $10,000,000, they would be allowed to take back a player making $10,000,000, but not one making $10,000,001.

McCain's salary as a rookie is $4,020,360, a microscopic number compared to the salaries of the kinds of top-flight players the Sixers would need to aim for if they wanted to trade McCain for a star."

With those rules regarding matching salaries in mind, a realistic McCain trade framework -- if such a thing even exists -- would be McCain and a role player or two (Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon all come to mind as possible options) to land a top-flight sort of role player, likely someone who could be plugged into the Sixers' starting lineup immediately and be a sensible fit alongside Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey while already being secured on a long-term deal.

The name many continue to circle is Herb Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans, who is an elite defensive player on the perimeter, has made significant strides as a three-point shooter and is on an affordable contract for this season and two more after. If Jones is ever truly available -- so far, there are zero indications that New Orleans would consider moving the player who is arguably their most valuable asset -- he is the one name I would be thinking about quite a bit. 

Another player who has been mentioned is Donte DiVincenzo, who has had a disappointing first two months of his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves. When DiVincenzo is right, he is a brilliant three-point shooter and heady defender -- Sixers fans know this all too well, of course -- and if the Sixers had the Villanova product playing at his best, he would give them an enormous boost as a starting shooting guard.

DiVincenzo's contract is even less significant than that of Jones. But would Minnesota be willing to part with someone they will need to make a title push? And after trading a distant first-round pick to move into the lottery and draft Kentucky point guard Rob Dillingham during June's NBA Draft, are they a sensible landing spot for McCain?

As far as tailor-made role players who can be immediate, significant helpers for the Sixers and are already under affordable, long-term control, I'm not sure any realistic options outside of those two exist. DiVincenzo feels far less likely than Jones, but I still have trouble seeing New Orleans pulling the trigger on a Jones deal unless they are particularly fond of McCain.

MORE: Last week's mailbag

From @zteutsch.bsky.social: What do you think we would have to give OKC to cancel this year's pick obligation? Perhaps the price went down to the recent winning streak.

As a result of the Al Horford salary dump in 2020 -- Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey's first move in charge of the team -- the Sixers will owe their first-round pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder unless it falls within the top six selections. For years, the top-six protection seemed irrelevant... and then the Sixers started the season with a 3-14 record.

The Sixers' recent surge has enabled them to climb to just the ninth-worst record in the NBA as of this writing, and while that is a damning fact in itself, there is clearly a roadmap for a full-fledged turnaround that leads this team into the Play-In Tournament and/or the playoffs.

But if the Sixers stick in this region of the lottery -- with a record bad enough that they have a chance of jumping into the protected range, but not one bad enough that they would have a statistically favorable chance of keeping their pick -- is there any way they could amend their obligation to Oklahoma City in a trade?

If they can come to terms on a deal with Oklahoma City before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, anything is theoretically possible -- from adjusting the details of the protection to the Sixers sending something to Oklahoma City in exchange for the rights to their own pick back.

When the Sixers were at rock-bottom in November, I did a lot of thinking about what they could offer to Oklahoma City to get their pick back, or even increase the protection from top-six to top-10. After all, the Brooklyn Nets traded a haul of future picks with high upside to the Houston Rockets last summer to regain two of their own picks which had been dealt to Houston for James Harden. There is precedent.

What makes this a particularly difficult scenario to envision is that the Sixers do not own anything the Thunder need. Oklahoma City has arguably the deepest roster in the NBA, led by the MVP frontrunner in Gilgeous-Alexander, and only a few teams have more draft picks over the next several years than the Thunder. They have pulled off a remarkable balancing act in sustaining long-term flexibility while assembling a dominant team in the present.

If between now and Feb. 6, the Sixers feel compelled to pack it in for the season -- we all know what the one development would have to be during that time for them to be ready to punt -- why would Oklahoma City budge? If I were Thunder Executive Vice President & General Manager Sam Presti, I would ask for an unprotected first-rounder during a time when the Sixers' title window has clearly closed, with another lightly-protected first-rounder during that span added, too. Would the Sixers mortgage their future to retain their 2025 first-round pick? It would be a tough sell if Presti (understandably) plays hardball.

MORE: How can Sixers keep protected first-rounder?

From @kevinfrench.bsky.social: Based on the current group of players, what is the ideal first-round matchup for the Sixers? Assuming they can’t get higher than the No. 5 seed.

I have tremendous belief in the young Orlando Magic. I predicted before the season began that Orlando would finish four spots ahead of the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Standings. But they have to be the answer to this question, simply due to process of elimination.

The Sixers must believe they have a chance of beating the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series -- and their road triumph on Christmas Day should bolster their confidence -- but calling the defending champions an "ideal" first-round opponent for any team would be foolish.

Meanwhile, the Celtics may not even take home the top seed in the conference this season because of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are an NBA-best 28-4 as of this writing and look like a full-blown juggernaut behind new head coach Kenny Atkinson and a ton of internal growth.

Then there are the New York Knicks, who have shaky depth but an unbelievably good starting five led by two players who have quickly become impossible to defend at the same time in Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Orlando is a terrific team -- they have strong defenders at every position and significant depth, with two true star wings in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner returning eventually. But they have far less talent, particularly in terms of offensive firepower, than the three teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings as of this moment.

Beating the Magic would not be an easy task for these Sixers whatsoever, but as far as first-round matchups will go for them as a lower seed in 2025, Orlando likely represents their most favorable draw.

MORE: Sixers thrash Trail Blazers

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