Stefanksi Makes His First Move

This morning, new Sixers GM Ed Stefanski made his first move since taking over the team last month, trading Kyle Korver to Utah for Gordon Giricek and a first-round pick.  The trade has very little to do with Giricek or the draft pick and a whole lot to do with dumping Korver’s long-term deal and clearing up cap space for this offseason. 

The draft pick is protected and the Sixers have seven years in which to make it.  I’m not entirely sure how that will play out, but I don’t think it’s anything to get too excited about.  It will probably end up being somewhere in the 20’s.

Giricek, a 6’6″ swing man, saw his playing time cut this season and had a confrontation with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan a couple weeks ago, leading the team to dismiss him for eight days.  His contract expires after the season and he probably won’t see too much playing time in Philly either.  Stefanski indicated that part of the reason for moving Korver was to open up more minutes for the young guys on the team, including Thaddeus Young, Willie Green, Rodney Carney, and Lou Williams.

Interestingly, Korver was originally drafted by Stefanksi and the Nets in the second-round of the 2003 draft, then immediately traded to the Sixers.  Korver turned out to be an excellent value for a second-rounder, despite his weaknesses (basically everything except 3-point shooting).  He may be the best long-range shooter to ever play for the Sixers.  Korver is the type of player that is valuable to a good team like Utah, they can bring him off the bench and let him bomb some 3’s, but he doesn’t have much use for a rebuiling team like the Sixers.

So the Stefanski-led rebuilding quest is underway.  The expected next move is trading Andre Miller in a similar salary-dumping deal.  In the meantime, the most promising player on the roster may be Lou Williams.  He showed some surprising and very impressive athleticism the other night, when he drove baseline past Dwyane Wade and then posterized Udonis Haslem with a dunk.  Williams is lightning-quick and could eventually become an offensive force.  Sixers fans will keep their fingers crossed.