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Sixers acquire Malachi Richardson from Toronto Raptors

Richardson once played for Philly’s renowned AAU squad Team Final.

Malachi Richardson warming up before a Raptors game in December.
Malachi Richardson warming up before a Raptors game in December.Read moreAP

Malachi Richardson is coming home.

The 76ers acquired him from Toronto along with the Raptors' 2022 second-round pick and the draft rights to Emir Preldzic for cash considerations on Wednesday, a busy day for the Sixers.

Richardson, however, is not a lock to remain with Philly. The team could include him in a trade before Thursday’s deadline. They could also waive him to create a roster spot in order sign someone from the buyout market.

The 6-foot-6 reserve shooting guard is a Hamilton, N.J. native and played AAU basketball for Philly’s Team Final. The 23-year-old averaged 1.4 points and 4.7 minutes in 22 games this season. However, his lack of production had a lot to do with his being a young guy on a loaded Raptors squad, as his minutes were hard to come by.

Richardson played a season-high 18 minutes, 50 seconds against the Chicago Bulls back on Nov. 17. He finished with a season-best nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, including 2-for-3 on three-pointers.

The Charlotte Hornets drafted him 22nd overall in 2016 as a freshman out of Syracuse and traded him to Sacramento. At the time of the draft, Richardson wanted to play for the Sixers. However, he and his agent knew there was a good chance that the sharpshooter and scorer would be off the board before the Sixers made the 24th pick.

Richardson, who played at Trenton Catholic Academy, was hoping the Sixers would trade up and select him, but they stayed at No. 26 and selected Furkan Korkmaz. Now, the two are teammates.

“I would love to play for Philly,” Richardson said before the draft. “That’s the hometown, basically. Philly is not even an hour drive from my house” in Hamilton.

“I would definitely look forward to going to the organization and becoming a better player and a better man. I know they can teach that.”