There aren't too many NBA trades one week into the season, but Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bomb (or maybe something less than that perhaps, a grenade?) on Tuesday afternoon. According to Woj, the Sixers have traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for forward and a conditional future pick:
According to the Inquirer's Keith Pompey, the pick will either be a late first or two future seconds:
“This is a unique deal that allows us to address both short term needs and longer term goals at the same time," Sixers president of basketball operations said in a statement. "Ersan will bring us much needed perimeter shooting, floor spacing and roster balance, while the acquisition of a future pick or picks should continue to drive our ability to generate future roster building options.”
“On behalf of the entire organization, I want to thank Jerami for his valuable contributions to our team and for always being the respectable and classy professional that he is.”
Grant's future in Philadelphia, next to a couple of young power forwards in and , was fairly unclear. A second-round pick in 2014, the Syracuse product got the opportunity to play over 3,100 combined minutes in his first two seasons for the rebuilding Sixers and impressed with his athleticism around the rim on both ends of the floor. His inability to score efficiently on offense, specifically from the perimeter, remains a major question moving forward.
The 29-year-old Ilyasova might only be here for one season (or less), as he's an $8.4 million expiring contract. For a Sixers team that is struggling mightily offensively, he does provide the ability to stretch the floor around the young big men (, ) as a 37 percent career three-point shooter.
And according to ESPN's Marc Stein, that is exactly why Colangelo made the move:
Much more to come later from Wells Fargo Center as the Sixers take on the Orlando Magic tonight.
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