Philadelphia 76ers NBA 2015 News: 76ers Get Free First Round Draft Pick
The Philadelphia 76ers haven't been doing well this season at all. At 12-41 they are the not-so-proud owners of one of the worst records in the NBA. However, they may have a plan to rebuild and it all revolves around getting draft picks and developing young, affordable talent.
That is why they may have pulled off the best deal yesterday at the NBA trading deadline. Sure, all they really got from the Denver Nuggets was a top 18 protected first round draft pick. However, it cost the team exactly nothing.
The 76errs traded Cenk Akyol to the Denver Nuggets for Javale Mg Gee and the above mentioned draft pick.
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When we look at the finer details of the trade we come to realize that the 76ers made a huge score here. Akyol is a Turkish player who was drafted in 2005. He has never played in the NBA and likely never will. The Nuggets had to get rid of McGee's $12 million salary in 2015-16 to help them get in compliance with the NBA salary cap. So in reality the 76ers are paying the $12 million next season, except they really are not.
The 76ers are so far below the NBA salary floor that they would have had to pay the difference between their salary and the salary floor as bonuses to their current player per NBA rules. The $12 million they pay to McGee would have been spent anyway and the team netted a top 18 draft pick for the trouble of taking on that salary. Without a doubt this is the best deal made yesterday and may just be one of the savvier trades in sports history.
This move and a few other deadline deal could give the 76ers three first round picks in the next NBA draft. Their own, one from Miami which is top 10 protected and the top 18 protected pick they got for free from Denver.
