The Sixers traded with the Memphis Grizzlies for Sam Young at the NBA Trade Deadline in a move that can absolutely not be defined as anything but solid. There wasn't any way the Sixers were going to make a huge move, but trading part of the Marreese Speights trade exception (that we got from Memphis in the first place) and Ricky Sanchez (who may or may not be Pepe Sanchez's brother) for a serviceable backup small forward is certifiably decent.
Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala have played far too many minutes that don't matter, simply because Doug Collins didn't have anyone else to go to other than Andres Nocioni. Giving the Sixers a legitimate small forward on the bench will allow ET and Dre to play more minutes together and, hopefully, not get injured when they're up 25 in the 4th quarter.
The last time the Sixers had a trade that was this much of a win was....I can't really remember. Trading Willie Green and Jason Smith for Craig Brackins and Dong was addition by subtraction (and Dong-action) but this brings it a very solid player at a "Buy Low" value for a guy that I frankly forgot about a long time ago. Jordan wanted Xavier Silas (because they're besties) but although it wasn't a major need, the Sixers needed some more length and athleticism off the bench. Next to Thaddeus Young, Sam should provide a good boost for the Night Shift which is always hot and cold.
Defensively, Sam came out of Pitt with the reputation of being a good defensive player. That hasn't totally been the case, but he's been fairly serviceable, and there's reason to think he'll be better with the Sixers. Typically, in Memphis, he was covering the other team's best offensive wing. The only time he wasn't doing that was when he and Tony Allen were in at the same time, and TA would D up on the better guy. The combination of Mike Conley, Allen, Young, Rudy Gay, and Marc Gasol only played 30 minutes together per 82games.com, but they had an 83.3 win percentage with that set in, the best of all 20 lineups listed. Extremely small sample size, but playing next to better defenders like Iguodala and Turner will allow him to play better defense on a worse offensive player. As his opponents PER tells us, Young has been far from a good player on D this year, but there's at least some cause for optimism in there for those of you who are pretty shruggish about this move.
Would I have rather had Reggie Williams of the Bobcats? Yes. Corey Brewer? Probably not. I love the D-League more than most everybody, but there isn't any wing as good as Sam Young out there for us. Even if there was, the Sixers wouldn't go after them anyway. It's just not their MO. For what they were trying to get, I'm perfectly happy that it was Samwise.
Again, this isn't going to vault the Sixers to championship contention, but if it saves us from watching another minute of Nocioni, as well as a few more three's from the 2nd unit opposite Jodie Meeks, this will be a nice win for the Sixers for a half-season rental. What happens beyond that is gravy. Nice move from Rod Thorn and company to buy low at the deadline.