The Jazz and Sixers completed a trade today that sent Kendall Marshall to Utah and Tibor Pleiss to Philadelphia, with both teams officially confirming that the deal is done. Reports have indicated that Utah will waive Marshall soon, avoiding having his contract become guaranteed. And even though Pleiss has a fully guaranteed $3MM salary, it sounds like he may ultimately be cut as well.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter) that the Sixers are still evaluating whether Pleiss will be a part of the team’s roster this season or whether he’ll be waived. According to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter), Philadelphia is likely to waive the German big man.
Pleiss, a former second-round pick who signed with the Jazz last summer, barely saw any action in his first NBA season, playing just 82 total minutes for Utah. The German big man was assigned to the D-League for a good chunk of the season, and he played well there, averaging 12.3 PPG and 10.4 RPG in 28 contests.
Because Pleiss’ salary is already fully guaranteed, there’s no rush for the Sixers to make a move right away. The team could bring the 26-year-old to training camp and make a decision on him shortly before the start of other regular season. However, Philadelphia reportedly agreed to a deal with Cat Barber last month and has yet to make that deal official because the 20-man offseason roster has been full — perhaps Pleiss will be waived to make room for Barber.
Here are a couple more notes on today’s Jazz/Sixers trade, and the fallout:
- According to Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.com, the Sixers will receive the most favorable and the least favorable of Utah’s four 2017 second-round selections. The Jazz currently hold their own second-rounder, along with the Knicks’, Pistons’, and Warriors’ picks. All four teams have playoff (or championship) aspirations, so there’s a chance neither of the picks Philadelphia gets will be that high.
- Despite the fact that Marshall has failed to stick with an NBA team for more than a single season since entering the league in 2012, several league executives believe there’s still a spot in the league for the former lottery pick as a backup point guard, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.