The Philadelphia 76ers needed to clear space on their roster in order to accommodate their acquisitions of Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III. So, for the second consecutive year, general manager Elton Brand called up the Orlando Magic in order to get a deal done.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers will send James Ennis III to the Magic for a second-round pick. With the addition of Robinson, the Sixers did not need Ennis anymore as they are essentially the same player offensively in terms of shot selection. Ennis was averaging 5.8 points and he shot 34.9% from deep in 49 games with Philadelphia.
Philadelphia has traded James Ennis to Magic for a second-round pick, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020
The pick is a 2020 second-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers.
The second-round pick the Magic will send to Philly will be the Lakers' 2020 second-round pick, which was owed to Orlando. Keep in mind the Magic have 15 players on their conventional (non two-way) roster. So the team would have to waive someone to make space for Ennis. https://t.co/0vsEJUFejW
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) February 6, 2020
Ennis will be missed in his aggressiveness on the offensive glass and his energy off the bench, but the addition of Robinson made him expendable and he is an upgrade over him at this point.
Robinson is shooting 40% from deep and is averaging 12 points. Obviously, he won’t average that much in Philadelphia due to his role being diminished, but it’s a big move for the Sixers moving forward. [lawrence-related id=25039,25069,25031]