The Newz--Trade Deadline Special

The 3 p.m. trade deadline has come and gone, and your Philadelphia 76ers made just a single move...for a guard...in his mid 30s...with tons of playoff experience--

No, it isn't Kyle Lowry. You can sit back down. The Philly native is staying put north of the border. Enough of that fantasy, I guess.

Instead, the Sixers are coming away with George Hill. And the cost wasn't very prohibitive either:

Everything about this sings for me. The future twos are great considering Sam Presti's wizardry in extracting first-round picks for assets (related--the Thunder have 17 first-round picks on deck over the next seven drafts. My God.). Maybe he was feeling charitable.

I was about to type that Terrance Ferguson had effectively fallen out of Doc Rivers' rotation, but that would have implied he was in it--he's logged 49 minutes all season. He's still only 22 and with boundless athleticism for a modern wing, and only two years ago he started 74 games for a playoff participant, but it wasn't gonna happen here. Actually, I'm probably most bent up about giving up Tony Bradley. I had raved about him in recent weeks filling in for Joel Embiid (over his last 8 appearances, Bradley had averaged 7.8 points on 80.6% shooting [!!!] and grabbed 6.8 boards in 20.0 minutes), and he's only 23 in his own right. But...Embiid figures to be back, and Dwight Howard will resume full-time backup 5 duties.

Oh, and it was later updated that Vincent Poirier was in the deal too. Okay...moving on.

Hill is a no-nonsense, low maintenance veteran with a veritable 3-point cannon (40.2% since 2015-16, league leading 46.0% a year ago), strong defensive instincts, and, though he isn't a special ballhandler by any stretch of the imagination, he is capable game manager. His teams have performed better with him on the court in ten of the past 11 seasons, and he's signed through next season for a reasonable $10 million with only around $1.3 million guaranteed if things don't work out for the rest of this year.

Ignas Brazdeikis is just filler for the deal, but he is only 22 with solid size for a wing (6'6", 6'9" wingspan, 221 pounds). If he isn't waived, maybe you'll see him in garbage time in a game or two.

Bottom line--look, Hill isn't Lowry. The latter brings everything Hill does to the table and then some times 10. I've mentioned in the past I think he has a decent chance at the Hall of Fame, and the wonderful folks at Basketball Reference agree. But you were looking at probably coughing up Tyrese Maxey and Matisse Thybulle, plus matching salary, and adding in a first-rounder or two. Pivoting to Hill is a brilliant alternative. It's more fun coming up with trades than grading real ones, but I'll give the Sixers an A for this one.