A Brief Sixersy Overview of Yet Another Crazy Trade Deadline

Were you hiding under a rock? On an around-the-world flight without internet access? Hunkering down because it's bleeping cold outside? Got kidnapped by assassins in Hawaii who stole your credit card info? Whatever the case, if you missed what happened at yesterday's trade deadline, or are simply confused, we at Liberty Ballers proudly have you covered for all of your 76ers-related news.

1. Sixers Acquire JaVale McGee, a first round pick, and the rights to Chu Chu Maduabum for the rights to Cenk Anyol.

The Who: JaVale McGee is a 7'1" behemoth who has no idea how to play basketball, despite being employed in the NBA for - *looks at calendar* - almost seven years now. McGee earned a rather large free agent contract with the Nuggets after a strong playoff series, something that tends to happen when aloof bigs gain focus with something valuable on the line. He doesn't tweet, he only retweets himself, and he has an alter ego named Pierre.

Cenk Anyol and Chu Chu Maduabum are really real people, but they'll never be more than placeholders in an NBA trade.

The What: A 2015 first round pick, originally belonging to Oklahoma City. The pick is protected from 1-18 this year, meaning the Sixers only receive the pick if it ends up somewhere between 19 and 30 - the Thunder need to finish with one of the league's 12 best records and make the playoffs for the Sixers to obtain the selection this season.

The Why: The Sixers as of yesterday sat well below the NBA's salary floor, which means they're paying out the money JaVale will make the rest of this season to anyone else on the team as it stands anyway. The trade is essentially swapping placeholders and paying McGee $12 million to rebuild his trade value and try flipping him next season.

2. Sixers acquire a first round pick for Michael Carter-Williams

The Who: How do we begin? When Goran Dragic and Reggie Jackson made their trade demands public earlier in the week, their availability (and teams' unhappiness with the current point guard situations) resulted in trades of about five starting-caliber point guards.

Here, Milwaukee traded theirs, Brandon Knight, to the Phoenix Suns. He will be a restricted free agent in July. The Suns traded guard Tyler Ennis and center Miles Plumlee to the Bucks. The Sixers then shipped MCW to Milwaukee to replace Knight.

The What: A 2015 first round pick, originally owned by the LA Lakers and protected from picks one through five, acquired from the Phoenix Suns. If the pick ends up anywhere from sixth through 30th this season, the Sixers will own the pick. Otherwise, the Lakers own the pick this season. The pick's protections decrease until it's unprotected in 2018.

The Why: We'll have more on both sides of this trade (the risks and rewards) on Liberty Ballers all day today. In short, however, the Sixers must have believed that the odds of MCW improving his jumper and becoming a star-level player were low, and that the value of the Lakers pick was more valuable.

3. Sixers acquire Isaiah Canaan and a second round pick for K.J. McDaniels

The Who: Isaiah Canaan, another former Houston D-Leaguer, and your new starting point guard. Similar to Patrick Beverley in that he came through Houston's developmental system and tore apart the D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. K.J. McDaniels, high-flying cool dude. K.J.'s awesome mother, Shawn.

The What: A second round pick, (likely) one originally owned by the Denver Nuggets. This gives the Sixers five second round picks and up to as many as four first round picks in the 2015 draft.

The Why: Fun. Sam Hinkie hates fun. It is not a market inefficiency.

(Or, maybe more accurately, with K.J. potentially becoming a free agent, and with a point guard hole being opened upon the Carter-Williams deal, Hinkie thought to knock out two birds with one stone. McDaniels could be re-signed this summer, though I find it unlikely given the team decided to cut ties during the year.)

Other Rumors That Didn't Happen and Non-Sixers Sixers News

- The Sixers at one point were rumored to receive Isaiah Thomas from the Suns (ultimately, he ended up in Boston for a pick)

- The Kevin Garnett-Thaddeus Young swap nearly involved the Sixers acquiring Chase Budinger... and a pick.

- Former Sixer Alexey Shved and two second round picks were traded from the Rockets to the Knicks for Pablo Prigioni. The Rockets have now given up three second round picks in direct exchanges for Alexey Shved this season.

- Miami acquired Goran Dragic from the Suns in a multi-player deal, sacrificing multiple future first-round draft picks. The Sixers own Miami's first round pick this season, and from my perspective this makes it more likely the Sixers make the pick this season (with the trade-off being that the pick slot is worse).

- Oklahoma City acquired Enes Kanter, Kyle Singler, and D.J. Augustin in a massive trade today. Oklahoma City's pick now belongs to the Sixers after the McGee deal, and it is protected for this year between selections one and 18. OKC needs to make the playoffs and have a better record than four other playoff teams for the Sixers to obtain this pick during this season.

Potpourri

- The Sixers signed Tim Frazier to a second 10-day contract. His first expired during the all-star break.

- Andrei Kirilenko is still a member of the team. Look for him to be bought out soon.

- Jason Richardson returned to 5-on-5 scrimmaging during Wednesday's post-practice game, but no timeframe for his return has been set.

- Courtesy our friends at NumberFire.com, based on the teams and rosters at the beginning of the all-star break, here are the odds the bottom NBA teams had at getting the number one overall odds for the 2015 Draft Lottery. These may have changed slightly due to Thursday night's NBA action and the sweeping trade activity.