The Sixers sorely needed more outside shooting before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.
They addressed that weakness by acquiring Buddy Hield from the Pacers.
The Sixers on Thursday night announced the exact details of the deal, which grew to include the Spurs:
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“To complete the trade, Philadelphia sent Furkan Korkmaz, a 2024 second-round pick ((a) most favorable of Toronto's own and (b) most favorable of (i) Indiana's own and (ii) least favorable of Utah/Cleveland), Portland's 2029 second-round pick and cash considerations to Indiana. The 76ers also traded Marcus Morris Sr., the LA Clippers' 2029 second-round pick and cash considerations to San Antonio. The Spurs sent Doug McDermott to Indiana."
Morris is expected to be waived or bought out, according to the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald. Indiana is waiving Korkmaz, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
The 31-year-old Hield has long been a high-volume, high-level three-point shooter. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard is already 22nd in NBA history with 1,842 made threes. He's hit 40.1 percent of his career three-point attempts.
Severely shorthanded over the past couple of weeks and struggling to generate offense with Joel Embiid sidelined by a left knee meniscus injury, the Sixers have regularly conceded major advantages to their opponents behind the arc. According to Cleaning the Glass, they rank last in the NBA in three-point frequency.
NBA
Hield has taken 9.6 threes per 36 minutes this season, which ranks eighth in the league. He played in every one of Indiana's first 52 games and averaged 12.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Morris and Korkmaz are both on expiring contracts. So is Hield, who has a salary of approximately $18.6 million this year.
The 34-year-old Morris ultimately appeared in 37 games for his hometown team. Korkmaz, who'd been outside of Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's full-strength rotation this season, was the team's longest-tenured player besides Embiid.
As they move forward without their superstar big man, the Sixers will hope Hield can make life significantly easier for first-time All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey.
In a story by The Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak, Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell called Hield “underrated” as a “cutter and mover and passer.”
"To the normal person, I don't think they realize how important Buddy Hield is to what we do," McConnell said. "Even if he's not shooting the ball. The attention he brings -- and they can get messed up on defense -- he's the best in the league at it. We love having him out there."
