Sixers/Nuggets Trade: Hunter and Jones for Evans and Sanchez

The teams that combined on December's Allen Iverson blockbuster trade are hooking up for another deal Monday, according to NBA front-office sources.

Philadelphia and Denver have agreed on a deal expected to send reserve center Steven Hunter and second-year forward Bobby Jones to Iverson's Nuggets for forward Reggie Evans and the draft rights to Puerto Rican forward Ricky Sanchez.

The trade is scheduled to be announced later Monday.

The Nuggets knew they were thrusting themselves into luxury-tax territory when they won the Iverson Sweepstakes, but this deal will enable them to shed nearly $8 million in salary.

They're also getting themselves a backup for veteran center Marcus Camby by tapping into their depth at power forward, believing that Evans would have struggled for minutes with Kenyon Martin expected to make his comeback from a second microfracture knee surgery and with Nene Hilario and George Karl favorite Eduardo Najera also ahead of him at the position.

In Evans, Philadelphia lands one of the league's foremost per-minute rebounders. Evans offset his offensive limitations by averaging 7.0 boards in 17.1 minutes per game for the Nuggets last season and has a career average of 7.2 rebounds in just 19.9 minutes.

If there's a risk for the 76ers, it's the foot injury suffered by starting center Samuel Dalembert while playing for Canada in the recent pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Las Vegas. Yet Sixers president Billy King said last week that the club expects Dalembert to be ready for the start of training camp Oct. 2 in Durham, N.C. Dalembert started all 82 games last season.

Hunter has been available via trade for well over a year, after the Sixers nearly dealt him to New Orleans in February 2006. The trade with the Hornets, halfway through Hunter's first season in Philadelphia, would have sent two second-round picks to Philadelphia but was rescinded by the Hornets because of unspecified health concerns. The 7-footer averaged 6.4 points and 4.8 minutes for the Sixers last season, playing 70 games and averaging 22.9 minutes.

I like the trade a little more for the Sixers, but then again I have no idea who Bobby Jones and Ricky Sanchez are. Perhaps Evans will reform his nut-grabbing ways.

way to go billy a guy who does nothing but rebound who has almost 20 million left for 4 years.

Ricky Sanchez is considered a Jonathan Bender clone. Other than that, don't know much about him either.

http://nbadraft.net/profiles/rickysanchez.asp

I've always liked Steven Hunter, but I don't know much about Jones or Sanchez.

Good trade for both teams, my guess is Reggie will start for Philly and grab a shitload of rebounds while Hunter becomes a decent backup center on a frontline that already has their fare share of athletic bigs - 6-11 Nene, 6-11 Camby, 6-9 Martin, and now 7-0 Hunter.

Good trade for both teams. Hunter and Jones weren't used in Philly and Reggie is stuck behind 3 other bigs that could be All Stars.

At least we get a guy who GK will play...Evans never got action after All-Star break, unless it was a blowout. I like that Hunter comes in and will be a back-up to Camby, good trade for Nuggets.

Nuggets stacking up big men. Wonder how time will be split even before this trade happens if Nene, Camby, Martin are healthy...

Not a bad trade for either side, but some of that depends on if I ever know who Ricky Sanchez is.

Not bad on both sides. In Hunter, the Nuggets now have a seven foot centre to back up Camby who is at least likely to play and put up respectable numbers in about 23 minutes per game last year. Evans had obviously fallen out of the rotation last season and will probably see more action this year given his competition at power forward in Philadelphia. A decent exchange of spare parts.

Camby and Hunter at C, Nene and Martin at PF...fits in perfectly.

I think I like this trade, for now.

I agree, the trade seems good but we will have to wait and see what Evans will be like.

Camby and Hunter at C, Nene and Martin at PF...fits in perfectly.

Well, both Nene and Martin are starter quality...don't really fancy seeing Nene (or Martin, for that matter) on the bench too much.

A good trade for both team.

I am pretty sure that Philly has a chance to make the playoff with such a team

Yes Reggie Evans truely is the missing piece.

Camby and Hunter at C, Nene and Martin at PF...fits in perfectly.

Well, both Nene and Martin are starter quality...don't really fancy seeing Nene (or Martin, for that matter) on the bench too much.

Martin??? After the 2 injuries, best he can do is be 6th man.

Yes Reggie Evans truely is the missing piece.

Yup, Philly got screwed again...
Evans is valuable, he serves a purpose, but that really doesn't sound like a good trade for the 76ers.

What the hell is up with all those SFs??? Goddamn, now we got Korver, Carney, Young, Byars & Sanchez. Is Billy tryna copy the Hawks or what?

When will the organization realize that Billy King is BY FAR THE WORST GM IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS????!!!!!!!! The more trades he makes the worse the team gets. It's unbelievable.

I am pretty sure that Philly has a chance to make the playoff with such a team

Are you on crack or just being sarcastic?

He likes to makes fun of us Evans rebounds pretty well, and that something the Sixers need very badly, rebounds, but he won't bring a championship (or playoffs) with the current team they have.

I think the Sixers might be the most balanced team in the League...







they all suck equally

I think the Sixers might be the most balanced team in the League...







they all suck equally

This is EXACTLY what I said to a friend the other day.

When will the organization realize that Billy King is BY FAR THE WORST GM IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS????!!!!!!!!

Naw, I'd give that title to Billy Knight.

Naw man, I disagree whole heartedly.

Interesting Trade, but I think Reggie Evans will help.

Bobby Jones is the lesser known of the stars from the University of Washington Huskies team that included Brandon Roy, Will Conroy, and Nate Robinson... I have no idea how he's going to pan out in the NBA, but obviously he's done well enough to avoid being cut.