The 76ers, Knicks and Thunder are all on the board with just hours left before the NBA Trade Deadline.
As first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks are part of a three-team deal with Philly and Oklahoma City that will, as the headliner, see George Hill headed from OKC to Philly - and Sixers beat reporter Keith Pompey has full details, which apparently has the Knicks sending Austin Rivers to OKC and Ignas Brazdeikis to Philly, while receiving swingman Terrance Ferguson from the Thunder and center Vincent Poirier and a 2021 second-round pick from the Sixers.
Ferguson, 22, was actually a first-round pick of the Thunder in 2017, but was dealt to Philly just before this season in the deal that sent Danny Green to OKC. Ferguson has played just 49 minutes over 13 games in Philly this year, scoring two points, but over three years with the Thunder he played 191 game and averaged 4.8 points in 20.7 minutes per game.
Poirier, 27, was also part of that deal, one of two trades he was involved in this offseason. Originally signed by Boston in 2019, Poirier averaged 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 22 games; he was dealt to OKC and then to Philly, and this season, he played in 10 games and got just under four minutes per in those contests.
Rivers signed a three-year, $10 million deal this past winter as part of a sign-and-trade with Houston, and averaged 7.3 points per game over 21 games – but he has not played since Feb. 13, a span of 16 straight DNPs with the Knicks, the last six due to being out on paternity leave.
Brazdeikis has played just 13 games in two seasons with the Knicks (four this year), averaging 1.5 points in 4.6 minutes per.
The Knicks are using a little bit of salary cap space in this deal - Ferguson and Poirier are making approximately $6.5 million, while Rivers and Brazdeikis combine for about $5 million) - but possibly setting themselves up for future flexibility. Brazdeikis has a club option for next year and Rivers has two more years on his deal, but both Ferguson and Poirier will be a restricted free agents due a qualifying offer this summer, and could be jettisoned to open up further cap space.
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