NBA Trade 2018-19 Review: Philadelphia 76ers - Tobias Harris Deal, Fultz Era Ends & More
As most of the teams ended up being disappointing with every passing day before the deadline, the Philadelphia 76ers franchise was one of the very few that packed a punch. They made a bunch of player exchanges that have set them up for immediate success in the coming future.
The intrepid moves by the Sixers GM Elton Brand screamed of their mentality driven for a title push this season itself, and not any later. Time and again, he has let it known in public that the time is now. For him, the pieces have fallen in place, and this is the apt time to go all in for gold.
Although he might have given up on cheap young talent via future picks, many believe Philly's current reserve of skillset will last them for a decent amount of time, in order for them to not give any immediate thought to fresh faculty on the court.
Heading into the All-Star break, the Sixers were tied for the fourth spot in Boston on the East leaderboard, about to begin on an upward spiral. Let's run an all-inclusive scan of the deeds Philly's front-office committed before February 7.
#1. The deal that brought the Los Angeles Clippers' highest scorer to Philadelphia
The blockbuster trade that sent Clippers dynamic forward Tobias Harris to Philly at a steep future price was one of the highlight deadline steals.
According to ESPN's Philadelphia 76ers transactions,
Acquired F Tobias Harris, C Boban Marjanovic and F Mike Scott from the Los Angeles Clippers for G Landry Shamet, F Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala, a lottery-protected 2020 first-round draft pick, a 2021 first-, 2021 second- and 2023 second-round picks.
The Sixers gave up a bunch of future picks for a player slated to become a free agent this July in Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott.
"Tobias is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA and possesses an innate ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor, while Boban and Mike provide valuable skillsets, size and depth to our team. All three players bring high character to our locker room and we are excited about their fit alongside Joel, Ben, Jimmy and our entire roster.", Sixers general manager Elton Brand said in a statement.
Clearly, the Sixers organization went short-term with this deal but provided themselves with enough financial bandwidth to ask Butler and newly-acquired Tobias Harris to stay for long when the times comes.