Could the Sixers have added another first-round pick at the deadline?

According to the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, citing a league source, the Celtics were targeting Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor.

This comes after Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge revealed on a Boston radio station that the team came “very close” to making a blockbuster deal that would have involved the team moving the Brooklyn Nets’ 2016 first-round pick.

Per the article:

the potential deal for Okafor “was dead on Wednesday” and that “the locals (Boston) left the porch light on, but nothing returned to life.”

Sixers GM Sam Hinkie joined me today and on the Sports Bash, I asked him at any point during trade talks did they come across a deal they liked.

"Not really," Hinkie told me.  "We like those guys probably as much as anyone in the draft, and we've learned to like them even more since we've had them."

The rumor might have some merit, considering Ainge said the Nets first-round pick that the Celtics own was important, but not untouchable.

"We know it’s important, but it’s not untouchable, either," Ainge told the Boston Globe. "It’s important and it has value for us. It’s not the most important value. We have some players we value more than we value the Brooklyn pick."

 

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