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Sixers get Anthony and second-round pick

NEW ORLEANS - The 76ers received another coveted second-round pick. Other than that, their participation leading up to Thursday's NBA trade deadline was mostly uneventful.

NEW ORLEANS - The 76ers received another coveted second-round pick. Other than that, their participation leading up to Thursday's NBA trade deadline was mostly uneventful.

The Sixers acquired center Joel Anthony and a future second-round pick while being involved in a three-team deal with the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons. The 2017 second-round pick comes from the Denver Nuggets.

In exchange for the former Detroit Pistons reserve center, the Sixers sent the rights of overseas player Chu Maduabum to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets also received a protected first-round pick from the Pistons. Detroit, meanwhile, received Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton from Houston.

To make room for Anthony on their 15-man roster, the Sixers waived JaKarr Sampson on Thursday afternoon after the team had practiced at Smoothie King Center here in New Orleans. However, it's unlikely that the Sixers keep Anthony.

But they can't do anything until the three-team trade is completed. It could take a couple of days because all the players needed to pass physicals.

A league source said the team wants to resign Sampson after he clears waivers on Sunday evening. The source added that the Sixers want him to remain with the team in New Orleans and fly with them on Saturday to Dallas for Sunday's game against the Mavericks. However, the source was unsure if Sampson would do that.

The Sixers will tell you that Thursday was a weird day. They boarded a plane in Philadelphia at 11 a.m. and kept a scheduled 3 p.m. practice in New Orleans.

"I think they may have been thinking about something," Elton Brand said, "because it was like 'Alright it's 3 o'clock [the time of the deadline], and we are just sitting there, tapped or getting tapped, you know waiting around. Then they are like 'Alright it's 3:15. When are we going to start?' And guys were on HoopsHype and on the local papers' [websites] trying to see what's going on."

It's not surprising that the Sixers kept their tradition of acquiring a salary in order to also get a draft pick. A league source told The Inquirer that the team was sending out feelers Wednesday about being a third team in any deal to dump contracts. They wanted to take on the salaries to receive draft picks.

Anthony, 33, makes $2.5 million this season, and the Sixers will have a team option for $2.5 million next season. The nine-year veteran scored a total of nine points in his 52 minutes of action.

But other than this move, this trade was uneventful by Sixers standards under Sam Hinkie. The general manager had made a total of eight trade, involving 14 players, two protected first-round and six second-round selections in the previous two trade deadlines.

Before this deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks expressed interest in reacquiring point guard Kendall Marshall from the Sixers. Those talks, however, went nowhere.

"It's a blessing to play in this league," said Marshall, who played in Milwaukee last season. "So it doesn't matter to me where I'm at."

The Sixers also entertained overtures about the availability of rookie center Jahlil Okafor, but none of them was serious.

"It's out of my control," Okafor said of trade talks involving him. "This is where I want to be, but whatever happens, to still be able to play in the NBA is still dream and part of the journey. But it's out of your control. So you can't stress about it."

The Sixers made a call to Atlanta to see about the Hawks' interest in trading point guard Jeff Teague or backup point guard Dennis Schroder. Atlanta informed teams on Thursday that it wasn't parting ways with either player.

Coach Brett Brown was not with the team during Thursday's practice.

Brown was in Oklahoma City, attending the funeral of Monty Williams' wife, Ingrid, who was killed in a car crash on Feb. 10.

Monty Williams, an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder, spent the previous five seasons as head coach of the Pelicans.

Brown was scheduled to join the team Thursday night in time for Friday's game.

Follow and contact Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers