The Thunder-Hawks-76ers three-team trade was reportedly on hold to becoming official while Philadelphia eyed another move.
Trading Jerryd Bayless (and surely something positive, like a draft pick) for Kyle Korver? The 76ers could still do that.
But this appears to be the move that had to precede the three-team trade – and the move that completed the Suns’ trade with the Nets.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports:
The 76ers are trading forward Richaun Holmes to the Phoenix Suns, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 20, 2018
Sixers 2017 second-rounder Jonah Bolden has agreed to a four-year, $7M rookie deal with Philadelphia, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. Deal includes team options.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 20, 2018
David Aldridge of NBA.com:
Suns will send $1 million to Philadelphia in the trade for @Rich_Holmes22, per source. The Dudley trade to Brooklyn opened up the cap space necessary to take in Holmes. Suns see Holmes as a five with rim running/shot blocking skills.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 20, 2018
The Suns did well to add Richaun Holmes, a 24-year-old energy center. The only question is whether did it in the optimal way.
Instead of trading a second-rounder to go from Jared Dudley’s $9,530,000 salary to Darrell Arthur’s $7,464,912 salary, Phoenix could have cleared the cap room necessary to acquire Holmes by waiving Davon Reed or Shaquille Harrison.
Instead, Phoenix will keep Reed and Harrison. The Suns should know Reed and Harrison, both of whom played limited minutes as rookies last year, better than outsiders do. To a certain extent, there’s little choice but to defer to the team’s judgment.
Holmes was behind Joel Embiid and Amir Johnson at center in Philadelphia. Given Embiid’s injury history, third center is an important role on the 76ers. But, after Nemanja Bjelica backed out of his deal with them, they traded for Mike Muscala as their stretch four. However, unlike Bjelica (who swung more toward small forward when switching positions), Muscala swings toward center. He provides enough depth behind Embiid and Johnson.
So, Holmes became the odd man out with Philadelphia needing to clear a roster spot to sign 2017 No. 36 pick Jonah Bolden (a player I liked quite a bit in the draft).
Bolden’s minimum salary would have been $5,721,234 over the next four years. So, he got a little more and likely some of it guaranteed. In exchange, he gave the 76ers team control at a cheap salary for the longest possible time. He’s betting against himself.
After signing Bolden into cap space, Philadelphia can now execute the deal with Oklahoma City and Atlanta.