Sixers Acquire Buddy Hield; Doug McDermott To Pacers In Three-Team Trade

Keith Smith
Keith Smith, Resident NBA ExpertFebruary 08, 2024
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#nba #nba trade deadline #buddy hield #marcus morris sr. #furkan korkmaz #doug mcdermott #marcus morris sr.
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(Note: This is a revised post, as the previously reported Sixers-Pacers trade was expanded to a three-team deal to include the Spurs)

Before the season started, after extension negotiations went nowhere, Buddy Hield requested a trade from the Indiana Pacers. Months later, Hield finally got his wish. After making his request, but continuing to play hard and well, Hield is headed to the Philadelphia 76ers, who are loading up despite Joel Embiid being out for a while. In an expanded three-team deal, the Pacers replaced Hield’s outside shooting by adding Doug McDermott from the Spurs.

Here are the particulars:

Philadelphia 76ers acquire: Buddy Hield

Indiana Pacers acquire: Furkan Korkmaz, Doug McDermott, three future second-round picks

San Antonio Spurs acquire: Marcus Morris, future second-round pick, cash considerations

Let’s dive in!

Philadelphia 76ers

Incoming salary: $19.3 million in 2023-24

  • Buddy Hield (SG, one year, $19.3 million)

Outgoing salary: $22.5 million in 2023-24

  • Marcus Morris Sr. (PF, one year, $17.1 million), Furkan Korkmaz (SG/SF, one year, $5.4 million)

The Sixers made it clear months ago that they wanted to upgrade their roster for this season, while maintaining flexibility for the summer. This trade does that.

Hield is a good player and will provide some scoring punch and spacing. He’s also on an expiring contract. So, if it works out, Philadelphia can look to bring Hield back. If it doesn’t, they can move on and still create the same cap space as before.

Hield’s shooting has dipped a bit this season, but he’s still an elite shooter. The 31-year-old is hitting 38.4% from deep on 6.9 three-point attempts per game. Hield is also regularly available and rarely injured. For a 76ers team that has been very banged up, that’s important.

With Joel Embiid out, Philadelphia has run even more of the offense through Tyrese Maxey. The secondary scorer has been Tobias Harris. Now, they’ll have an additional player who can scale-up and scale-down his game as necessary. If the Sixers need Hield to take 20 shots one night, he’ll get them up. If they need Hield to play a complementary role and mostly draw the defense with his gravity, he’ll do that too. And he should be a terrific fit once Embiid is back in the lineup, as he’ll create space for Embiid, Maxey and Harris to work in.

One minor issue for the Sixers: Morris has played regular minutes in their injury-hit frontcourt. This could mean more minutes for someone like Kenyon Martin Jr. are on tap. Or, more likely, Daryl Morey isn’t done tweaking his roster.

Philadelphia still has several good-sized expiring contracts that they can move. And they’re sitting on some tradable draft picks too. Morey will keep working to round out their depth. Keep an eye on a center who can start for Embiid while he’s out, then slide into a backup role when Embiid returns. And we’re saying “when”, because this trade seems to indicate that the Sixers believe the reigning MVP will return this season.

Indiana Pacers

Incoming salary: $19.1 million in 2023-24

  • Doug McDermott (PF, one year, $13.7 million), Furkan Korkmaz (SG/SF, one year, $5.4 million)

Outgoing salary: $19.3 million in 2023-24

  • Buddy Hield (SG, one year, $19.3 million)

The Pacers had a logjam at the guard position. They’ve used Hield as a starter and off the bench this season. Lately, with a healthy roster, Indiana has gone to Andrew Nembhard as the starting backcourt mate next to Tyrese Haliburton.

That move put Hield in a bench role. Indiana also has Bennedict Mathurin coming off the bench, as well as T.J. McConnell. That’s a lot of overlap in skills and roles. Simply put, someone was going to lose out on minutes somewhere.

The real get in this trade for Indiana is three future second-round picks for a player that was coming to the end of his run with the team. Because of what we laid out above, Hield was likely not in the long-term plans.

McDermott will could help replace some of the shooting that was lost by trading Hield. He’s bigger than Hield, so McDermott should be able to play in lineups that feature two guards. He’s on an expiring deal, so the Pacers long-term cap flexibility takes on no hit.

It’s already been reported that the Pacers will waive Korkmaz.

San Antonio Spurs

Incoming salary: $17.1 million in 2023-24

  • Marcus Morris Sr. (PF, one year, $17.1 million)

Outgoing salary: $13.7 million in 2023-24

  • Doug McDermott (PF, one year, $13.7 million)

The Spurs side of this deal is fairly simple: They added a second-round pick and some cash to cover the difference between Morris and McDermott’s salary.

It’s been reported that Morris is expected to work a buyout with the Spurs. That makes sense, as San Antonio is prioritizing playing younger players for the rest of this season. Morris was fairly productive in his stint with the Sixers, so he should be able to find a new home. Two things to note: Morris can’t return to Philadelphia, as they just traded him. And because his salary is above that of the Non-Taxpayer MLE amount ($12.4 million) Morris can’t sign with any of the apron teams either.

 


#nba #nba trade deadline #buddy hield #marcus morris sr. #furkan korkmaz #doug mcdermott #marcus morris sr.
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