In a pure salary dump (and presumably to open up more playing time for youngsters Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes), the Golden State Warriors today traded swingman Dorrell Wright to the Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to Bosnian forward Edin Bavcic.
For the Warriors, they clear Wright’s $4.1 million salary off the books, and allows them to move forward with Thompson and Barnes as their wing players for the future, along with Brandon Rush (who outplayed Wright last season) and second round pick Draymond Green. Bavcic is a 28 year old power forward who played in Italy and Greece the last two years, averaging 9 points and 5.5 rebounds a game during that stretch. The Warriors will also receive a $4.1 million trade exception.
The more complicated picture is what the Sixers are trying to do. So far this offseason, they have amnestied the last year and $18.1 million remaining on Elton Brand’s contract, brought back Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen on modest two year deals, and signed Nick Young to a one year $6 million contract. They are also likely to lose Lou Williams and Jodie Meeks in free agency.
They currently have 11 players on roster, and 7 of them are between 6’6″ and 6’8″ (5 swingmen and 2 power forwards). With such a glut at one position, could the Sixers be set to ship off team captain Andre Iguodala? “Iggie” is no stranger to trade rumours (indeed he found himself in a few just a couple of weeks ago). But with the emergence of Turner, and the addition of Wright and Harkless, the Sixers now look like they might have to move someone just to create enough playing time for everyone. A defensive ace, Iguodala would be in high demand despite his hefty price tag, and he could be used to bring back a player with some size (which the Sixers are in sore need of, despite the presence of Hawes and Vucevic).
From a salary standpoint, despite the fact that Young and Wright’s deals expire after this season, they will be under the salary cap next year but not enough to land a star player (if they keep Iguodala). There are a lot of things up in the air however, including whether or not they keep Iguodala, and if they do, whether or not he opts in to the last year of his contract. As of right now, the Sixers moves are rather confusing (not necessarily bad, just hard to figure out where this is going). However, it would not be surprising if all of these moves are part of a bigger plan with other moves still to come.
