In Stauskas, Sixers obtain shooting guard they wanted

Sam Hinkie made another one of his trademark trades.

The 76ers general manager acquired a player with upside and received a future draft pick in exchange for taking on salary dumps and surrendering assets.

Wednesday night's trading partner was the Sacramento Kings, and the Sixers acquired Nik Stauskas, the shooting guard they coveted in the 2014 draft.

In addition, they also picked up power forwards Carl Landry and Jason Thompson, a 2018 protected top-10 draft pick, and the right to swap first-round picks in 2016 and 2017.

Sacramento received the rights to two of the Sixers' second-round picks - Arturas Gudaitis (47th) and Luka Mitrovic (60th) - in last week's draft.

"I'm excited to start a new chapter in Philly! #TheMarathanContinues," Stauskas tweeted late Wednesday.

The trade, which can't become official until July 9, was a salary-shedding move by the Kings to help them pursue free agents.

The deal cleared more than $16 million in cap space and will enable them to have around $26 million to go after free agents. Landry is due to make $6.5 million next season, Thompson $6.4 million, and Stauskas $2.8 million.

Sacramento is targeting guards Rajon Rondo and Wesley Matthews.

Last year, the Sixers had planned to draft Stauskas out of Michigan with their second first-round pick, at No. 10. The shooting guard, however, went eighth to the Kings.  The Sixers ended up selecting Elfrid Payton at 10 before trading him to Orlando for Dario Saric's draft rights.

Stauskas had a rough rookie campaign, averaging 4.4 points and shooting 36.5 percent.  The 6-foot-6, 205-pounder made 48 of 149 three-pointers.

Now, with long-range shooters Stauskas and Robert Covington on the wing, things should open up inside for Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid, if Embiid is healthy.

Okafor was taken third overall last week after his freshman year at Duke. He was asked his first memory of Stauskas.

"He's always been able to stretch the floor," Okafor said. "He's a great shooter. I love being around great shooters. That allows me to pass it out. And it makes it hard for them in the post to double-team."

The trade is also a homecoming for Thompson.

The 6-11, 250-pounder was a standout at Lenape High School in Medford and at Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J., before being chosen 12th overall by the Kings in 2008. In seven seasons, he became the franchise's all-time leader in games played with 541.

He averaged a career-low 6.1 points to go with 6.5 rebounds this past season.

The 28-year-old became expendable once the Kings drafted Willie Cauley-Stein last week.

"I always knew that I wasn't going to retire in [Sacramento], play out my career [there]," Thompson said. "It's a surreal situation. You got that side of it. Then you got the side of coming to a team where you grow up being a fan as a kid. So you can take this as welcome-home stuff."

Landry averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 2014-15. The 6-9, 248-pounder is recovering from wrist surgery.

Robinson deal. Former Sixer Thomas Robinson reportedly agreed to a two-year, $3 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets.