Reason III: After cutting Tony Wroten on Christmas Eve, we owe it to him.
The Philadelphia 76ers traded for point guard Ish Smith on December 24, 2015. To make room, the team had to cut a player. That player was Tony Wroten. The team didn’t intend to be so cold and calloused. But the New Orleans Pelicans insisted that the Philadelphia 76ers execute the trade as quickly as possible.
The follow up story by Philly.com Keith Pompey included some touching sentiment from Brett Brown:
"“It was disappointing to part ways with Tony,” coach Brett Brown said Saturday. “He had been around me all my days there. It is part of sport. I hope he looks back knowing the coaches gave everything we could. For the most part, I think he did too. We wish him well.”"
And that was that.
This debt needs paid
While it makes sense for the team to get Ish Smith to run the offense and distribute the ball, the way the team timed that release still sits wrong with me. So if the Philadelphia 76ers could be the Grinch who stole Wroten’s 2015 Christmas, why can’t the same team be Santa Claus to the guy this summer?
Tony Wroten suffered an ACL injury to end his 2014-2015 season, and it was quite clear in the 2015-2016 season that he had not fully gotten his timing back. Now, he has a chance to earn playing time if some team gives him a chance. As far as I see it, the Philadelphia 76ers owe him that chance.