76ers Trading for Buddy Hield to Bolster Offense Hours Before Deadline

With the Philadelphia 76ers slowly falling in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the team decided to make a splash on Thursday to bolster the offense. Shams Charania reported that the Sixers are acquiring veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds that the Sixers are sending Marcus Morris Sr., Furkan Korkmaz, and three second-round picks to the Pacers for Hield.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Sixers were interested in acquiring Hield, who would give them another shooter/scorer to pair in the backcourt with Tyrese Maxey. The 31-year-old Hield is scoring 12 points per game on 44.3% shooting from the field and 38.4% coming off the bench for the Pacers.

Hield has a base salary of $18.5 million this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Sixers hope that the veteran wing can help them with their three-point issues, as they are ranked 19th in three-point shooting (36.2%) and 26th in threes attempted (31.4).

The Sixers essentially moved two expiring contracts for one expiring contract as they still want to have some financial flexibility heading into the offseason. 

Morris Sr., who was acquired by his hometown Sixers earlier this season in the James Harden trade, averaged 6.7 points per game on 43.9% shooting from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Korkmaz was one of the longest-tenured Sixers as he was with the team since 2017-18.

After acquiring Hield from the Pacers, the Sixers are still considered long shots to win the East (+1900 on FanDuel Sportsbook). But maybe Philadelphia can start to make some ground as they deal with life without Joel Embiid.

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