Stefanski talks deadline
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Stefanski talks deadline
Bob Cooney
UPDATED: Sixers president/general manager just spoke with Bob Cooney about the trade deadline:
"It's a frustrating time. You make a ton of phone calls, ton of discussion, think you’re close but then salaries not matching, something in the cba and third teams and trying to work it out that way. All 30 teams keep churning and churning. It just didn’t come through that we’d get equal value or value to get better on the court right now."
On being satisfied with the status quo: "We started off poorly and I’m not happy. We’re playing better no question it. Our defense is the key to fueling us, playing better defense and rebounding the ball. We need to keep getting better and working at this every game, whatever it takes, keep looking to make some moves to get better."
Earlier: In a move that might not shake up the team but almost surely will shake up the fans, Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski has traded guard Royal Ivey and center Primoz Brezec to Milwaukee. The Bucks also get a second-round pick from the Sixers.
Brezec confirmed after practice to the Daily News that he and Ivey had been dealt.
The Sixers will receive Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson.
The 6-4 Meeks was the No. 41 pick in the second round of the June draft. He has appeared in 41 games, averaging 4.1 points in 11.9 minutes. He is best known for scoring 54 points for Kentucky against Tennessee, including 10 threes.
The Sixers tried hard to get an extra pick in the draft in order to select Meeks, who was among the players the team brought in for workouts. Meeks is scheduled to make $650,000 this year in the first of a 3-year deal.
Elson, a 7-footer in his sixth season out of Cal, played in just 11 games this year and averaged under a point per. He had hernia surgery on Jan. 29 and is expected to be out until at least mid-March. He can be a free agent after the season.
He won a chamnpionship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007; he began his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets and also logged time with the then-Seattle SuperSonics.
He has appeared in 404 career games over 6 seasons, averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. He has also played in 30 playoff games, 10 with the Nuggets, 20 with the Spurs.
He averaged 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 59 games with the Bucks last season, making 23 starts. He shot a career best 84.6 percent from the foul line.
His family is from Suriname, and he is fluent in five languages. He is believed to be the seventh Dutch player in league history.
Brezec has appeared in only seven games and averaged fewer than a point and two rebounds per game in those appearances. The 7-1 center signed a 1-year, $1.1 million deal with the Sixers in the offseason.
Ivey has appeared in 26 games, averaging 2.7 per game. He was in his second season with the Sixers. He opted out of the final year of his contract at the end of last season in hopes of finding a contract worth more than the veterans’ minimum elsewhere. He returned to the Sixers on a 1-year deal worth slightly more than the minimum.
Via Twitter, Andre Igoudala said about Ivey, "1 of best t'mates i ever had. didnt get to show what he could do this yr but will show and prove GOOD LUCK!"
Ivey and Brezec will join another new Buck with Philly ties. The team also acquired former Sixer John Salmons, from Plymouth Whitemarsh, in a deal with Chicago. Former Friends Central star Hakim Warrick was also in the deal going to Chicago from Milwaukee.
And does it seem like more than the nine years that have passed since the Sixers made a trade that was done to vastly improve the club – to help them boost their chances for a, gulp, chance to win a championship?
It was February 22, 2001. The Sixers, at 41-14, were among the elite in the Eastern Conference, among the upper echelon in the NBA when they traded injured center Theo Ratliff, among others, to the Atlanta Hawks for reigning defensive player of the year Dikembe Mutombo.
Ah, those were the days.
I just traded the rest of my Sixers tickets for half of an Italian hoagie.— Marky Biz Kiss
Comment removed.- This is like buying a new socks for a leg that needs to be amputated.
I wonder what the comments would've been like back when they traded the great JERRY STACKHOUSE (the next DR. J?) to Detroit for Aaron McKie and Theo Ratliff? This could be a great trade if Meeks winds up scoring 54 points (or even 15 points) in a few games.— Leegles- Strategic move. Both Eds are at the top of their games and it shows— buff1
- Championship— Billy Walls
- move over lebron...sixers are gonna be world champions now!!!!LOL WHAT A JOKE...GETRID OF STEFANSKI & TAKE YOUR HOMEY WITH YOU BALDY— xrajux
- This is a joke, please remove this as top story.— heyeaglefn
- Leegles I live in upstate NY and if this deal turns out anything like the Stackhouse for Ratliff and McKie deal I'll personally drive to Philly and apologize. But Stackhouse is a decent player at least and that's why they got some good stuff for him. I just don't see that happening with these guys we got.— CBent1
- so nothing for nothing. great.— eagles84
- The Sixers essentially traded a 2nd round pick for a proven 2nd round pick. They upgraded their bench with a CHEAP rookie who is younger and bigger than Lou Williams. At the very least he'll be solid scoring off the bench. Ivey was expendable because at the very least Jrue Holiday will be just as good a defender as Ivey. This was a very good trade, especially considering how cheap Meeks is.— TruePhan
- there must be a pony under this pile of manure!!! These guys can't be that stupid...to think that a bench player for bench player trade would somehow be of value....maybe Kentucky was secretly practicing the Tiger offense all those years (where Meeks excelled) and we foolish outsiders just don't get it!!!
- Sixers are just another team in Philly that are smarter than the fans, media, and experts. I am glad to say that this does NOTHING toward getting a better Sixers Team. Enjoy dwelling in the bottom of the division, but never bad enough to get a lottery pick boys. This team is never going to get better and the Championship days are way behind us. At least they can say they won the Championship once though.— SlinkTMP
- No Comment.— mariord
- I don't think it's a good or bad trade. The trade doesn't make them any better or worse. The organization traded two guys who don't play and a draft pick for two more guys who won't play.— KWM5046
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
