Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Philadelphia 76ers are on pace to welcome a familiar face back to the City of Brotherly Love. It’s hard to believe that nearly five years have passed since the Sixers pulled off a draft-night trade that sent the N0. 10 pick Mikal Bridges to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Zhaire Smith.
In the interim, Bridges has gone on to appear in the Finals for the Suns and earned an All-Defense First-Team nod in 2022.
Smith, meanwhile, is currently not playing professional basketball.
Bridges’ stock had climbed so significantly that he was the centerpiece in the Suns’ trade deadline blockbuster to land Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. Now, with the Sixers likely facing the Nets in the playoffs if the current standings hold, Philly’s first-round matchup could have the added “Bridges Bowl” wrinkle.
On Sunday, Bridges’ college teammate Kris Jenkins reminded the Sixers of their poor trade.
“Wonder if the sixers still happy they traded my brother on draft night…bozos,” Smith tweeted next to a series of crying-laughing emojis.
Wonder if the sixers still happy they traded my brother on draft night….. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 bozos
Unfortunately, the Bridges trade is one of several black marks on the Sixers’ rebuild resume.
Sixers Called Out for ‘Idiotic Blunders’ Thybulle and Joe Trades
Perhaps the toughest fact to stomach about the Bridges trade is that he’s precisely what the Sixers could use right now. In a league that has become dominated by two-way wings, the Sixers are an outlier.
The closest thing the Sixers have had to a three-and-D wing in recent memory was Matisse Thybulle (who was much more “D” than “three” with the Sixers).
Bridges, meanwhile, is shooting 38% from three this season and has the defensive chops to hang with the conference’s craftiest stars.
It’s a classic case of what could have been, something the Sixers have been dealing with in spades recently.
Over the summer, the Sixers cut Isaiah Joe from the roster. Now on the Thunder, Joe is one of the league’s premier three-point specialists; his 40.9% from deep is top-ten in the league this season and tied with Warriors star Klay Thompson.
And then there’s Matisse Thybulle, who found some solid shooting form immediately after his trade-deadline move to the Portland Trailblazers.
For sportswriter Ben Detrick, it was simply too many failures coalescing at once.
“Sixers’ treatment of Thybulle and Isaiah has crossed the rubicon of embarrassing to disqualifying. You can’t make idiotic blunders and pretend they don’t matter,” Detrick tweeted.
Daryl Morey Defends Sixers Trade History
But Sixers GM Daryl Morey was quick to defend the Sixers’ moves, including the decision to cut Joe during the preseason.
“We’re not going to have playing time for everyone,” Morey told PhillyVoice. “So sometimes, we’re going to cut players who are very good players. And we’re happy for those that go on to do great things. There’s a lot of factors that go into it, including the current contract or the goals of the season to win a title. We could start bringing in worse players so we never cut a good one.”
Fortunately, the moves haven’t completely tanked the Sixers’ present. As it stands, they are third in the Eastern Conference with a legitimate chance at making the Conference Finals.