General managers talk to other general managers about players all the time. 

Sometimes, news of these discussions leak.

Sounds like this is one of those cases. So don't make a big deal out of it. 

According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, the Toronto Raptors have contacted the Sixers regarding Nerlens Noel. Lowe cites sources who state that the Raptors have offered a "rotation player — perhaps Terrence Ross, and other goodies — in exchange for Nerlens Noel" but also noted that "the talks haven't gained much traction yet."

Probably because the trade depends on the value of the so-called goodies.

A 6-foot-7, 195-pound swingman, Ross has been inconsistent over his four-year career. After starting 123 games the previous two seasons, Ross, 25, primarily came off the bench last season, starting seven of 73 games. He averaged 9.9 points and shot 38.6 percent from three, right around his career averages (9.3 and 37.8).

He's a three-point shooter and finisher (a little like Harrison Barnes) who in January 2014 erupted for 51 points in a loss to the Clippers and hit 10 of 17 from three. He hasn't scored 30 in a game since.

Ross was drafted by the Raptors in 2012 out of Washington with the eighth overall pick. He signed a three-year extension late last year that will pay him $10.5 million per season.

Toronto is interested in Noel because big man Bismack Biyombo may leave during free agency, which begins Friday.

The NBA Draft may be over, but the time for wheeling and dealing hasn't necessarily passed for the Sixers. In fact, the team's head coach is expecting a shakeup.

Speaking on Monday's Mike & Ike Show on 94WIP, Brett Brown pulled no punches when assessing the Sixers' glut of big men and in particular the logjam at center. The organization needs to create more balance among its starting five, and to accomplish that, there will likely have to be a trade.

A trade that should still go down before the regular season begins. Via Andrew Porter:

“I would be surprised, [if we started the season with our current crop of big men] ... I talk freely always with my players. This is something that in a different world maybe it’s awkward. It isn’t because it’s true, it’s real, it’s part of pro sport. Sometimes for the players too, like they have to understand that maybe it’s best for them too. And so, all over the place — instead of sort of hiding from this kind of what could be the elephant in the room or an awkward moment — I don’t like doing that. I speak freely with my guys about it.

“It’s just we understand the positional balance of our roster needs to rule the day. We have to find a balanced team.”

The Sixers were rumored to have offers for Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor leading up to and during the draft, but refused to pull the trigger. Brown acknowledged the front office fielded calls, although not all of the reports were accurate according to the fourth-year head coach.

While it may have been wise to pass up on those deals, the reality remains that moving one of Noel or Okafor for either a point guard or a shooter would be in the best team's interest. We know it, Brown knows it and the rest of the NBA knows it — which is why there's a good chance it will happen.

Obviously, the guards the Sixers might have coveted from the draft are accounted for, but there's veteran help out there. Who knows, such a trade could even accelerate the club's growth.

Brown also speaks in depth about No. 1 pick Ben Simmons and touches on coaching in Philadelphia during the interview, which can be found here.

If you didn’t know who was saying the words, if you simply closed your eyes and listened — absent any inflection or accent that might give away the speaker’s identity — the remarks would have sounded awfully consistent with other statements given in similar situations over the last few years. The words “patience” and “process” were employed, which is standard stuff considering the organization. And yet it was a bit jarring, because the man who uttered all those things this time around is decidedly different than the man who preceded him.

When the first round of the 2016 NBA draft was finished, Bryan Colangelo addressed the media assembly at PCOM. The Sixers took Ben Simmons with the first overall pick, as expected. But despite ceaseless reports and rumors, they did not unload Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor to move back into the lottery, nor did they jettison the 24th or 26th picks. Those decisions were somewhat less expected. What followed was a rather remarkable explanation given the organization’s open desire to advance the rebuild and regain relevance in the league (or some semblance of it).

“This is a work in progress that will continue throughout the summer,” Colangelo said. “We have free agency on the horizon. There were numerous trade scenarios that we looked at. We didn’t feel like any of those trade scenarios would put us in a position where we want to be moving forward. So we took a patient approach. We passed on a few opportunities where we could have reached. We decided that, whether it was retaining assets, particularly future assets, future picks, we still feel like this was the right process to follow.”

Draft night could have gone sideways for the Sixers, and fast. An initial report had the Sixers offering Noel, Robert Covington and the 24th and 26th picks to the Celtics for the third pick, ostensibly so they could annex Kris Dunn. A subsequent report had the Sixers offering the same package to the Timberwolves for the fifth pick, ostensibly so they could annex Kris Dunn. None of it came to fruition, and afterward Colangelo called the trade rumors false and insisted that those rumors didn’t come from the Sixers. You can believe that or dismiss it as post-draft propaganda and damage control. Who leaked what for which purposes matters less than the ultimate outcome — the fact the Sixers, under new management, chose to keep building rather than pressing the detonation plunger on their still on-going construction project.

Whether the Sixers stay committed to the slow-and-steady, asset-accumulation approach is still very much in doubt. As everyone knows, and as Colangelo admitted, they have a clogged frontcourt that needs to be addressed. That’s tricky stuff. But while we wait to see how Colangelo solves that problem, he should be commended for not simply taking a sledgehammer to the issue. That’s what the Noel/Covington/24/26 deal would have been: a big blow to a situation that requires a more delicate solution. The Sixers must move either Noel or Okafor in time, but as Colangelo rightly pointed out, they shouldn’t do it just for the sake of it. Better to keep everyone in house, awkward fit and all, and retain valuable assets until a more useful resolution presents itself.

Beyond that, the Sixers made two fascinating picks at the end of the first round, taking French wing Timothe Luwawu 24th and Turkish guard Furkan Korkmaz 26th. Both guys are the kinds of young, raw players with future potential that might have been favored by the previous administration (and both got rave reviews from the Trust the Process/Rights to Ricky Sanchez crowd). It’s uncertain whether their respective buyouts will permit them to play for the Sixers this coming season or whether one or both will be stamped with draft-and-stash status. Either way, they were smart picks with upside that make sense for a team that wants to add as much talent as possible while avoiding moves that would rush the roster back to the NBA’s dreaded mediocre middle.

As Colangelo said, the roster is far from set. The Sixers have lots of decisions still to make. It’s possible they scrap the patience and process approach in the coming weeks/months and overreach in an attempt to supercharge the rebuild. But for now, what they did on draft night gets full marks. They resisted the urge to do something for the sake of it and at the expense of the future. That’s encouraging.