Report: Sixers trade for James Ennis

No one can say Elton Brand sat on his hands this trade deadline season. Following the huge deal centered around ex-Clippers forward Tobias Harris, and a minor move involving Malachi Richardson, the Sixers have swung another trade, acquiring 6-foor-7 wing James Ennis from Houston.

The acquisition cost for Ennis appears to be very minimal.

The 28-year-old Ennis fits the 3-and-D wing prototype needed for the Sixers coming off the bench. He is a career 36.2 percent 3-point shooter, knocking down 37.3 percent of his treys this season. He’s mainly a spot-up shooter offensively, which is a plus now that Philadelphia has four players who are going to want the ball in their hands a fair amount in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, and Tobias Harris. Defensively, he works hard and has the ability to switch across multiple positions.

Ennis has a player option for next season for just under $2 million which he will likely decline to pursue a larger/longer deal in the open market. It’s interesting that the Rockets are shipping him out for such a minor return. He has made 25 starts this season and seems to ably fit their roster profile of surrounding James Harden with shooters and willing defenders. I suppose Houston’s acquisition of Iman Shumpert made Ennis expendable in the minds of the Rockets front office, and the organization is also working to shave off luxury tax dollars.

On the whole, Ennis could very well be a useful member of the rotation, and Brand was able to acquire him for next to nothing, presumably because Houston’s ownership is worried about saving money. I call this a win! We’ll now wait to see who the Sixers cut from the current roster to make this deal official.

Update: As expected, the recently acquired Malachi Richardson will be waived to create a roster spot for Ennis. Malachi, you’ll always have your spot on the Post-Process era T-shirt.