The Philadelphia 76ers landed an All-Time great from the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a spectacular trade history with the Los Angeles Clippers. There have been plenty of big trades between the two franchises with some big-name players. However, one deal, in particular, landed the Sixers a top-five player at his position.
The Clippers and 76ers have executed a total of 14 trades in the past, which is tied with the most that Philly made with any one team. Players like Tobias Harris and Hersey Hawkins were traded from the Clippers to the Sixers but, surprisingly enough, those trades still aren’t the best.
The first trade between the two clubs occurred in 1970 and the most recent happened in the offseason of 2019. However, the best trade between these two clubs was executed in 1978 when the Clippers were in San Diego.
The best trade ever between Philly and LAC was…
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Don’t be mistaken, the Clippers got a pretty good player out of this deal. World B. Free was a career 20.3 point per game scorer and averaged a career-best 29.4 points while with the Clippers for two seasons. Despite the impressive scoring averages, he only made one All-Star game for his career.
That first round pick was the 5th overall pick in the 1984 draft and it turned into Charles Barkley. Barkley is a top-five power forward of All-Time and is the best in Philly’s franchise history. He played eight seasons with the Sixers and averaged 23.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steal, and 1.0 blocks. While the 76ers had to wait six years to draft Barkley, it was clearly worth the wait.
Barkley is a Hall of Famer, former MVP, and for his career, he has 11 All-Star and All-NBA appearances. This trade was easily a win for the Philadelphia 76ers as they acquired one of the best players in franchise history.