The Philadelphia 76ers have traded point guard Kendall Marshall to the Utah Jazz in exchange for center Tibor Pleiss. Utah will also send two second round picks and cash considerations in what appears to be a salary dump, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Pleiss is a largely unknown player. He has only played one season in the NBA. The 26-year-old center played in only 12 games last season, averaging two points and 1.3 rebounds per game. The 7-3 big man will have plenty of work to do if he is to turn his NBA career around.
For the Sixers, the deal is mostly about the draft picks. Despite moving on from the Sam Hinkie regime, Philadelphia is still stockpiling picks. The team still needs strong, young talent and although second rounders are typically not significantly impactful players, having multiple picks increases the likelihood of finding a gem.
Philadelphia will absorb Pleiss’ deal which is worth $3 million this season and $3.1 million next year. However, Pleiss is only guaranteed $500,000 for 2017-18, meaning Philly could waive him next summer without too many repercussions. With a bevy of big men already on the roster, that seems like a likely scenario for the German center.
The Jazz, meanwhile, appear to be engaging in a salary dump. According to Wojnarowski, Utah plans to waive Marshall. The point guard is under contract through the 2018-19 season but his deal is entirely non-guaranteed if he is waived before September 1st.
This is the latest in a long line of obstacles for Kendall Marshall who has played for four teams in four seasons with varied success. The pass-first guard is taking it in stride, however:
hell of a story to tell my grandkids! https://t.co/Xf5Z5Kc8hL
— Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) August 26, 2016
As for Utah, they save a little bit of extra cap space with this move over the next two seasons and create an additional roster spot. They could potentially use that money to sign one of the few free agents remaining on the market (Donatas Motiejunas, perhaps?).
More likely, however, is that they will use the space to renegotiate and extend power forward Derrick Favors’ contract. If that is the case, trading away two second round picks is objectively worth it.
