The Philadelphia 76ers were able to get a superstar from the Houston Rockets.
In these series of articles covering the best trade that the Philadelphia 76ers with each team, this will be the first one that will have a clear overlap with a previous article. A previous trade with the Chicago Bulls helped the Sixers land a superstar from the Houston Rockets.
The 76ers have made nine trades with Houston and most of them ended up being in Philly’s favor. The first trade occurred in 1968 when the Rockets were still in San Diego and the most recent one happened during the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline.
This trade could easily rank as a top-3 trade of all-time in Philly’s history. It occurred in 1982 and involved two players a future draft pick.
The best trade ever between Philly and Houston was…
There’s no denying that the Rockets didn’t come away from this trade with anything. Caldwell Jones was a very good defensive big man for his time and spent two seasons in Houston before getting traded.
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That first round pick turned into Rodney McCray who was a solid level starting small forward and played the first half is his career with the Rockets. For his career, he averaged 11.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.
Moses Malone was the Sixers anchor when the won their last championship in 1983. The Hall of Fame center played five seasons in Philly and was named an All-Star four times, he was regular season and Finals MVP for the 76ers as well. He was also named to an All-NBA three times and made first-team All-Defensive once during his tenure in Philly.
After Wilt Chamberlain, Malone cemented himself as the second-best center in Philadelphia 76ers history. During his time with the Sixers, he averaged 21.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks. That seems like a great trade for the 76ers in hindsight.