The Philadelphia 76ers weren't all that involved in trade talks leading up to the deadline on Thursday. The Sixers did gauge interest for a few of their players but they were never seriously considering making any big deals. Philadelphia did make one trade though, as they acquired Joel Anthony and a second-round pick for the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum. The 76ers did not have an open roster spot in order to bring Anthony aboard so they needed to make a cut and that was JaKarr Sampson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Despite the 76ers making the trade they are reportedly not expected to keep Anthony and will eventually waive him. Although they intend to waive him the 76ers still had to clear a roster spot in order to officially acquire the veteran. Once Anthony is waived, as expected, the 76ers want to bring Sampson back, according to Keith Pompey of Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News.
The ability to bring back Sampson hinges on whether he is able to clear waivers first. It is fully expected that Sampson should clear waivers as he is "fringe member" of one of the worst teams in the NBA's rotation, according to Kyle Newbeck of SB Nation, but stranger things have happened.
Sampson was an undrafted free agent out of St. Johns in 2014 before he signed with the 76ers that offseason. Sampson wasn't a huge star in college but he was a very solid player who has a lot of talent and good size (6-foot-9) so he made the 76ers roster last season. In 74 games a year ago Sampson averaged 5.2 points in 15.3 minutes per game and he has put up similar numbers this year.
Recently Sampson had fallen out of the 76ers rotation as he had appeared in just three of the 76ers last eight games averaging five minutes per game in that time span. Waiving Sampson was a move that had to be made in order for Philadelphia to get this trade done but he reportedly has a great attitude and is well-liked so they want to bring him back. It is unclear if Sampson will draw interest from anyone else but his return to Philadelphia does seem likely.
