The Sixers made a lot of trades during 2014, and the year proved that Sam Hinkie values second round picks greatly. So much so that I had enough to create a top 10 list of trades including the Sixers receiving a second round pick. These rankings are super-subjective, so arguing about the order is pointless. That said, go ahead and do it. Enjoy!
10. Brandon Davies
Acquired 2020 second round pick (and Jorge Gutierrez and Andrei Kirilenko) and 2018 second round pick swap for Brandon Davies.
What a sad, sad day. We lost a good man, a good person, a kind soul, and a loosely-defined professional basketball player that day, all in the name for acquiring a pick that's 13 years old right now. In good news, Brandon Davies is still in the NBA, unlike the majority of people traded for a second round pick in the past year.
9. Jordan McRae
Acquired the rights to 58th overall pick in 2014 Jordan McRae on draft night from the San Antonio Spurs (along with the rights to 60th pick Cory Jefferson, who was then traded for Brooklyn for cash) in exchange for the rights to 54th pick Nemanja Dangubic.
Technically a trade for the rights to a second round pick, but since it happened on draft night I'm counting it anyway. I guess in this vein, the Pierre Jackson trade might count too, but he spent a year playing professionally.
Jordan McRae went on to dominate Las Vegas Summer League and hang out with kangaroos.
8. TIE: Byron Mullens and Eric Maynor
Byron Mullens and a 2018 second round pick were acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers for a conditional pick and cap space. Sixers acquired 2015 and 2016 picks for taking on Eric Maynor in a three-team deal with Washington and Denver, where the Sixers gave up a conditional pick. Neither conditional pick was transferred.
These were basically the same trade at the same time, and since I counted 11 (!) trades for second round picks this year, including trades for second round picks made on draft night, I either had to bump the Davies trade (which was the WORST) or artificially squeeze one in. So here you go.
Byron Mullens did not win a game in a Sixers uniform and decided to forego guaranteed NBA money (more than the league minimum!) to reach free agency and receive a one-way trip to China. I have no idea what Eric Maynor is up to, but he got waived last March and is still being paid by the team.
7. Keith Bogans
Sixers acquired Bogans' non-guaranteed contract from the Cleveland Cavaliers and a 2018 second round pick for a conditional pick that will never be transferred.
Ah, that trade. I actually forgot about this one, until I looked it up. Weirdly, a lot of people felt badly for Bogans after this trade. For the record - Bogans signed a three-year contract with the Brooklyn Nets to help facilitate the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce trade. He did so knowing that he was probably no longer an NBA player, but he received $5 million in guaranteed money to play along with the charade and help match salaries for trade purposes.
The final two years were not guaranteed, and frankly his contract did exactly what it was designed to do. Bogans would not have been in the NBA otherwise, and in turn he made millions of dollars more than what most people will ever see. Furthermore, he didn't have to move his family or turn his life upside down, because no team after the Celtics had any intention of playing him. He was not even in camp for the Sixers while on the roster.
Anyway, this trade happened and Bogans was waived early in training camp to make room for Malcolm Lee and Drew Gordon.
6. Alexey Shved
Acquired Ronny Turiaf (injured and out for year; subsequently waived), 2015 second round pick, and rights to Sergiy/Sergei Lishouk for Alexey Shved)
Remember that hideous goatee? Remember that?
5. Casper Ware
Sixers acquired Marquis Teague (since waived) and 2018 second round pick from the Brooklyn Nets for Casper Ware.
A secondary benefit to signing players to the Hinkie special, when the later years of the contract are not guaranteed, is that they can be used as parts of trades instead of being subsequently cut. Each year of the contracts for many of the Hinkie-special candidates are minimum-salaried, meaning they can be sent out in any deal due to the CBA's minimum salary exemption. Here, that didn't matter as Teague was acquired, but it's an interesting wrinkle.
Teague is very fast and not an NBA player, so he left soon after. The same could be said for Casper, though you might say he disappeared.
4. Dario Saric
Sixers acquired the rights to Dario Saric, a 2015 second round pick, and their own 2017 first round pick (previously protected 1-14) for the rights to Elfrid Payton.
Ha! You probably forgot Hinkie got himself a second round pick even out of this deal. Whether the trade went down as legend would have it or not, and even if Elfrid Payton turns out to be a really good player (possible if he could ever pass the threshold of "better than MCW" as a shooter), the Sixers received tremendous value here. Saric looks like a potentially crucial complementary piece, and the extra picks are super nice for only moving down two draft positions and getting your man anyway.
And the second round pick will be around 40th, regardless of whether the Magic make a playoff run or not, because rules.
3. Spencer Hawes/Henry Sims
Sixers acquired Henry Sims, Earl Clark, and two 2014 second round picks (used on Jerami Grant and Vasilije Micic) for Spencer Hawes.
The Sixers may have squeeze a surprising amount of value out of this trade. Clark was waived almost instantly, but Sims looks like a decent find as a backup big, and Jerami Grant's play is inspiring enough to get invested and ask for more. Hawes was a free agent at year's end and now wears polka-dot Christmas suits.
2. Arnett Moultrie
Sixers acquired Travis Outlaw and 2018 second round pick for Arnett Moultrie.
This trade is largely unoriginal, but it has so much meaning, because good riddance Arnett Moultrie. Travis Outlaw being a Sixer for about 10 minutes is a great factoid that you could tell your children someday, to which they'll respond with indifference. And then you'll get upset because your kids could not care less about the NBA's collective bargaining agreement and why that has anything to do with this, and you'll wonder why you've failed as a parent in that instance only. The end.
But yeah, Arnett Moultrie got cut from the Knicks because they need to play other Sixers castoffs like Samuel Dalembert and Jason Smith at his position. The Knicks are still behind the Sixers in the Eastern Conference standings, by the way.
1. Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen
Sixers acquired Danny Granger and a 2015 second round pick for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen.
This is the top trade for a number of reasons, but the value acquired is not one of them. The second round pick here originally belonged to the Golden State Warriors, which means that it should be among the final five selections in the upcoming draft. For two rotation players, the Sixers probably should have done a lot better.
But this trade, above all else, proved that Sam Hinkie will literally trade anything he doesn't believe has future value for a second round pick. I think Hinkie put himself in a corner, as most assume he could have received a better deal if he had attempted a deal earlier than the deadline for Turner. Lavoy Allen is still with the Pacers, meaning he's one of the four players noted here that are still with the other team in the trade (along with Shved, Davies, and Payton). Turner is doing something in Boston, most likely blocking former teammates on Instagram.
This trade also marked an end of an era, one defined by mediocrity and failed expectations, both due to lack of performance and mismanagement. Or as Mo Speights, who scored 23 points against the Sixers last night in a 40-point victory, would say: LOL Doug Collins.