INDIANAPOLIS (CBSMiami) – The Indiana Pacers continued to go all-in for their quest to overtake the Miami Heat Thursday when the team struck a trade deadline deal to acquire Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen from the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Pacers sent Danny Granger and his $14 million expiring contract to the 76ers, which will likely be bought out by Philadelphia.
Turner has been hot and cold since being a high-draft pick out of Ohio State a few years ago. He has averaged 17.4 points and 6 rebounds per game on an awful Philadelphia team.
He will give Indiana another long player behind Lance Stephenson to throw at Miami and LeBron James. But his stats may have been inflated based on having to play so much for a really bad team.
For Philadelphia, the team is in full tank mode now after trading center Spencer Hawes to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Allen and Turner to the Pacers. The 76ers are likely to finish with one of the worst records in basketball, only Milwaukee may end up worse.
But for Philadelphia, things could change quite quickly. The team has a tall, athletic point guard in Michael Carter-Williams and next season will have 6’11” defensive phenom Nerlens Noel in the lineup as well.
Assuming the 76ers finish with the first or second worst record in the NBA, the team could be in line to pick up Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker with the first of two picks in the top 13. Combining Parker with Noel, Carter-Williams and another lottery pick could return Philadelphia to contention quickly.
