Philadelphia 76ers: 3 offseason moves to be thankful for
3 offseason moves to be thankful for: Trading Al Horford
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the Al Horford trade made this list and the second most thing to be thankful for seems fitting as well. Horford’s contract quickly became one of the biggest albatrosses in the NBA last season.
Horford was a former five-time All-Star known for his defensive versatility and ability to stretch the floor on offense, so there was some logic to signing him last offseason. However age, injuries, and poor fit with the Philadelphia 76ers’ star duo quickly disproved that logic.
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It seemed that if the Sixers wanted to get off of his deal they were going to add on significant draft capital to do so. However, the team’s front office was able to pull off a deal where they only gave up the 34th pick in this draft and the lightly protected 2025 first round pick to offload Horford to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson.
Green is the player that the term 3-and-D was coined after and Ferguson is an underrated piece in this deal as a young athletic wing with upside at the age of 22. Green fits perfectly next to stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the starting five, so getting off Horford’s deal for him is something Philly fans should be thankful for.