The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded forward Ersan Ilyasova and a conditional future draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for young forward Jerami Grant, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
According to Wojnarowski, the Thunder have been pursuing a deal for Grant for several months, finally striking the deal today. Grant's contract is non-guaranteed for this season, and the Thunder can go $7.1 million under the salary cap thanks to this trade, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical.
The future first round pick sent to Philadelphia is protected if it's between the 21st and 30th spot, but will turn into two second round picks if the Thunder land outside of those spots, per Marks.
The stringent protections on OKC conditional first-round pick to Sixers for Grant make what league executives call "a fake first" in deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) November 1, 2016
The move gives OKC great flexibility, not only financially, but on the court, as Grant can play at either forward spot and contribute, without being much of a veteran pressure on young Donatas Sabonis, who holds the starting job for the team.
It wouldn't be surprising to see the 76ers waive Ilyasova upon his arrival, as the 29-year-old Turkish international is owed $8.4 million this season and the team is eager to develop rookie Dario Saric at the power forward position.
Ilyasova is a shooting big man that can spread the floor, but does not present any other qualities as his position, rendering him useless as a stretch-four when his shot is not falling.
Jerami Grant in the other hand, is an athletic forward that can produce the intangibles, as he averaged 1.6 blocks and 0.7 steals last season through a limited 26.8 minutes per game.
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