The Philadelphia 76ers are acquiring shooting guard Buddy Hield in a trade with the Indiana Pacers, per NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
In exchange, the Pacers will receive forwards Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz and three second-round picks.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was the first to report on the Sixers’ interest in Hield.
“Philadelphia is exploring conversations with a variety of teams, but one known target for the Sixers is Pacers guard Buddy Hield, league sources told Yahoo Sports,” Fischer wrote in an NBA insider piece. “Hield’s $18.5 million salary would be a match for several of the Sixers’ expiring contracts, and his expiring deal wouldn’t add future financial burden onto Philadelphia’s clean cap sheet for this offseason, as the Sixers have left rival teams with the impression they are still wary of taking back longterm salary at this juncture.”
Hield, 31, turned down an extension offer from the Pacers, setting himself up for a better offer or free agency. But also setting himself up to potentially be traded.
He remains among the NBA’s most dangerous 3-point threats.
Philadelphia could be in for a long stretch with All-Star center Joel Embiid, who’s expected to miss at least another month following knee surgery. The Sixers (30-20) have lost eight of nine and dropped to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, though the race remains air tight. They’ve already made one large trade this season, seeing former guard James Harden and forward P.J. Tucker to the Los Angeles Clippers for forwards Kenyon Martin Jr., Morris., Robert Covington and guard Nicolas Batum.
Meanwhile, Indiana (29-23) is in fifth place in the East. Morris will undoubtedly add toughness to a team that traded for forward Pascal Siakam last month.
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