Continuing this series of the best trade that the Philadelphia 76ers have made with each team in NBA history, the Utah Jazz are up next. Both are storied franchises so it’s surprising that there aren’t too many deals between the two of them.
There have been six total trades between the two franchises. The first one was when Philly sent Jeff Hornacek to Utah in 1994 and the most recent deal was in 2016. It appears for most of the trades between the two clubs, Utah was the winner or there was no one, but one could be viewed as a win for the Sixers.
The best trade ever between the Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz was…
Yup the most recent one in 2016 was the winner by default. The Philadelphia 76ers made a major miscue in “The Process” when they signed Kendall Marshall at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. He couldn’t recapture the level of play he had with the Los Angeles Lakers two seasons before and he was coming off a bad injury.
After the season, Philly flipped him for Tibor Pleisti and two future second round picks in 2017. Pleisti was waived soon after the deal. The first of which was originally from the Golden State Warriors and the Sixers used that pick in future trade to get Ersan Ilyasova in a 76ers uniform for the second time in his career. Alpha Kaba was eventually selected with that pick and he has yet to play an NBA minute.
What made this deal a win for the Sixers was the other second round pick in this deal. Originally from the New York Knicks, the 76ers used that pick on Jonah Bolden. Although Bolden eventually flamed out in Philly, he was an exciting young prospect that did contribute to some wins for his season and a half with the club. During his stint with the Sixers he averaged 4.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 blocks.
There weren’t that many good choices to choose from, but turning Kendall Marshall into Jonah Bolden can be considered a win for the Philadelphia 76ers.