Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 8/3/15

The Warriors and Sixers hooked up on a late Friday afternoon trade last week, with each team flipping a newly acquired player. Golden State sent Gerald Wallace, who had arrived in the David Lee trade, to Philadelphia for Jason Thompson, one of the three players the Sixers received in their deal with the Kings in early July. The Warriors also sent cash — $1MM worth, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link) — and gave the Sixers the right to swap the less favorable of the 2016 first-rounders the Heat and Thunder owe them for Golden State’s 2016 first-round pick. The move gave the Warriors a trade exception of more than $3MM, and perhaps most importantly, it allowed the team to save some $8MM in luxury tax payments.

The trade looks like a positive for the Warriors, but with the margin for error so razor thin in the Western Conference, every move carries risk. For the Sixers, the trade allows for the collection of another draft asset, but unless the Thunder or Heat finish with a better regular season record than the defending champs, who are coming off a 67-win season, Philadelphia won’t see any benefit from the pick swap. The Sixers may well have simply rented out $3MM worth of cap space for a cash payment of $1MM. So, how would you grade the trade for both teams?

The Warriors and Sixers are in opposite places in the NBA hierarchy, so it would be difficult to grade them on the same rubric. Still, you’re free to give any grade you wish. To leave your comment, just enter your name and email address, write what you want to say, and submit it; there’s no need to become a registered user. Just make sure you comply with our commenting policy.

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