Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 10:35pm

SIXERS ADD ANOTHER PASS-FIRST PG IN ISH SMITH

The Philadelphia 76ers acquired point guard Ish Smith from the New Orleans Pelicans for two future second-round draft picks.

What does it give the Philadelphia 76ers
The long-rebuilding Sixers recently brought in heavy-hitting uber-exec Jerry Colangelo to help accelerate their 'Process,' and while adding Smith isn't a big move it's at least a step in the right direction. Smith joins Kendall Marshall and TJ McConnell in a three-headed rotation of pure pass-first point guards. In a related move, talented (but injury-prone) combo guard Tony Wroten has been waived by the team.

What does it give the New Orleans Pelicans
Early this season Smith beat out Nate Robinson to play a role as the Pels' fill-in point guard, and he was very good for stretches. Now that the team's backcourt is getting healthier, he became expendable. The two future second-round picks aren't all that valuable, but they're nonetheless solid assets the Pelicans can use to improve down the road (and a solid return for a journeyman player).

Fantasy impact
It's anyone's guess what Smith's role will be with the ever-morphing young Sixers. Anytime this season he could now reasonably either become a big-minute starter (who can help fantasy squads with high assist totals and low turnover numbers), or he might find himself backing up fellow distributors Marshall and McConnell. So don't expect too much, but do add him to your fantasy radar as a sleeper. This deal also affects Philly's shooting guard rotation, since Wroten is gone now (which should mean more minutes for point guard-turned-shooting guard Isaiah Canaan, and the under-utilized Nik Stauskas).