Before any picks were made on draft night the big news centered on the OKC Thunder – 76ers trade featuring Danny Green for Al Horford
The deal that marshaled in the end of NBA trade restrictions this week featured the OKC Thunder sending Dennis Schroder to the Lakers. In return, the Lakers sent back Danny Green and their first-round pick (28th).
As it turns out that trade ended up providing the fuel that would deliver arguably the greatest excitement of the 2020 Draft Night. While it was anticipated several teams at the top of the board would trade their picks they held fast. Perhaps Klay Thompson’s untimely torn Achilles shifted the Warriors’ mindset. The Dubs were in talks with the Bulls to swap picks but stuck with their pick drafting James Wiseman.
Other teams such as the Hornets and Hawks who were actively looking to trade up and down respectively also stayed put.
The first trade of the night didn’t occur until the 16th pick with the Blazers sent Isaiah Stewart to the Pistons. The very next pick belonged to the Wolves and is where the OKC Thunder head man Sam Presti made his initial draft night move.
OKC Thunder kick start draft night with trade with 76ers for Al Horford
Backing up to the start of the evening though, the news that made the biggest splash and created plenty of banter was the OKC Thunder – Philadelphia 76ers trade featuring Al Horford.
Heading to the 76ers is Danny Green (part of the Lakers package for Dennis Schroder) as well as Terrance Ferguson.
Coming back to Oklahoma City is Al Horford, the draft rights to Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic, the 34th pick of the 2020 draft (which conveyed to be Theo Maledon), and the 76ers 2025 first-round draft pick with top-six protection.
If this trade summoned feelings of deja vu that’s understandable. Like the Chris Paul trade with Houston, the 76ers needed to sweeten the pot because of Al Horford’s salary. The big man is set to earn $27.5M this season, $27M in 2021-22 and $26.5M in 2022-23.
The other commonality between the stars is their fit within the system. In fairness to Paul – although that was the reason cited, the reality was it had more to do with his age, his contract, questions on his ability to stay healthy and he big elephant – his working relationship with James Harden.
In the case of Horford, the 76ers seemed to jump the gun by inking Al to a 4-year $109M deal. The absurdity of the situation is it felt like the move was made simply because Horford was best defender of Embiid. Apparently, Elton Brand and Brett Brown didn’t sit down prior to making the move to discuss how Al would fit playing with two stars who don’t space the floor.
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Now Horford will get an opportunity to reinvigorate his career. For years Horford was considered a lockerroom strength and quiet leader. But, his time with the Kyrie Irving Celtics and issues in Philly last season have put his leadership value in question. Fortunately, the established Thunder culture is strong and while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is young he learned invaluable lessons on and off the court from Chris Paul.
Hopefully, Horford will be able to channel a similar path in OKC this season to revitalize his reputation and spark a team’s interest in trading for him.
It’s a tad disappointing the young Thunder players won’t get an opportunity to be mentored by Danny Green who is far more vocal behind the scenes than most fans know. Kyle Lowry is the Raptors leader (much like CP3 was to the Thunder) with Fred VanVleet 1B but during the Toronto title run Green was the main voice in the pregame speech and a vocal contributor in the huddle.
As for Terrance Ferguson, 2020 is a year he’ll likely want to forget both on and off the court. Perhaps a fresh start in a new environment will help him reinvigorate his career.