The Philadelphia 76ers are trading Al Horford and two draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Oklahoma City acquires a 2025 first-round pick — protected for picks 1-6 — and the 34th overall pick in Wednesday night’s draft. Additionally, the Sixers will send the Thunder the rights to highly regarded Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic.
Horford, 34, signed a four-year, $109 million contract with Philadelphia last offseason. He then put together a disappointing season alongside Joel Embiid in the Sixers’ frontcourt, averaging 11.9 points and a career-worst 45.0 field goal percentage. His Player Efficiency Rating of 15.7 was his worst mark since his 2007-08 rookie season (14.7 PER with the Atlanta Hawks). Perhaps a change of scenery could get Horford performing more like how he played with the Boston Celtics prior to joining Philadelphia.
Green had been acquired by the Thunder on Sunday in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for point guard Dennis Schroder (additionally, the Thunder traded Chris Paul to the Phoenix Suns). The 33-year-old is a career 40% shooter from three-point range, and averaged 8.0 points per game this past season for the NBA champion Lakers.
But perhaps the biggest story out of all of this is how many freakin’ first-round picks Sam Presti (OKC GM) and the Thunder have coming up. Oklahoma City now has 17 first-round picks through 2026. As Forbes’ Tommy Beer points out, that’s more than 8% of all first-round picks made between now and 2026. Oklahoma City has three picks in the top-34 on Wednesday night.
Sam Presti is DEALING!
The Thunder currently have 17 1st round picks through 2026 😳 pic.twitter.com/dt8oGbOpzz
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 18, 2020
Yes, the Thunder own the rights to 17 first-round picks over the next seven drafts
(more than 8% of all first-round picks made between now and 2026) https://t.co/U19A6u60t8
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) November 18, 2020
So, it may take some time to become a realistic title contender, but the Thunder are set up quite well for the future.
