The Philadelphia 76ers best trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder came in the form of a point guard.
Reviewing the trade history between the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder is unique because of the Thunder’s history. The Western Conference franchise has two different team histories. One is the current’s incarnation known as the Thunder and the previous version was known as the Seattle SuperSonics.
For the purpose of this article and the series of publications covering the best trade that the Sixers made with each team, both iterations of the franchise will be included in this one article.
The 76ers have made a total of seven trades with the Thunder/Sonics. The first trade was made in 1971 and the most recent one was completed in 2018. Philly’s best trade came when the franchise was in Seattle during the 1997-98 season.
The best trade ever between Philly and Seattle was…
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The 1998 second round pick the Sixers traded for Eric Snow originally belonged to the Los Angeles Clippers before the 76ers acquired the pick in a separate deal. That second round pick became a 6-foot-10 center named Jelani McCoy who played for six teams in eight seasons. With Seattle, McCoy averaged 4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds during three seasons.
Snow played six and a half seasons with Philly and was the perfect defensive counter punch to Allen Iverson’s offensive onslaught in the Sixers backcourt during those seasons. Snow played a pivotal part in the 76ers run to the NBA Finals in 2001 when they faced off against and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
During his tenure with Philly, Snow averaged 9.7 points, 6.6 assists, and 1.6 steals. In terms of counting stats, Snow wasn’t too impressive but during his prime with the Sixers, he was one of the top defensive guards in the NBA.
Acquiring one of the better defensive point guards in the NBA who was a part of an NBA Finals run for only a second round pick was a big win for the Philadelphia 76ers.