According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Philadephia 76ers have acquired guard Jared Cunningham and cash considerations from the Los Angeles Clippers. Wojnarowsi, however, follows by saying that the club is not likely to keep the 23-year-old:
Philadelphia is unlikely to keep Cunningham, who was about to be waived with Clippers until they found a deal today, sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 7, 2015
Drafted 24th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft, Cunningham has played for four different teams thus far in his short NBA career. The Sixers would be his fifth, with fourty games of experience already under his belt with the Mavericks, Hawks, Kings and Clippers. Cleveland flipped him a day after the draft to Dallas as a part of the Tyler Zeller trade.
| Season | Age | Tm | G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 21 | DAL | 8 | 26 | 6 | 14 | .429 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| 2013-14 | 22 | TOT | 13 | 80 | 6 | 21 | .286 | 1 | 7 | .143 | 13 | 16 | .813 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 26 |
| 2013-14 | 22 | ATL | 5 | 22 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013-14 | 22 | SAC | 8 | 58 | 5 | 19 | .263 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 13 | 14 | .929 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
| 2014-15 | 23 | LAC | 19 | 89 | 12 | 33 | .364 | 4 | 13 | .308 | 7 | 13 | .538 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 35 |
| Career | 40 | 195 | 24 | 68 | .353 | 7 | 23 | .304 | 22 | 31 | .710 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 7 | 11 | 77 | ||
| 1 season | LAC | 19 | 89 | 12 | 33 | .364 | 4 | 13 | .308 | 7 | 13 | .538 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 35 | |
| 1 season | DAL | 8 | 26 | 6 | 14 | .429 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | |
| 1 season | SAC | 8 | 58 | 5 | 19 | .263 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 13 | 14 | .929 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 24 | |
| 1 season | ATL | 5 | 22 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
The Clippers were set to waive Cunningham, as announced yesterday by Orange County Register's Dan Woike, prior to today's 5:00 pm EST deadline of his contract becoming fully guaranteed for the rest of the season. Chuck Myron of HoopsRumors writes that with the Clippers being less than $1 million under its hard cap, waiving the guard would provide them "additional flexibility".
The Clippers have been working to clear roster space to explore more potential deals to improve their bench, league sources said.
Trading Cunningham spares the Clippers a cap hit. If they would've waived him, he would've counted against the cap based on the number of days he had been with the team.
It is unlikely the Sixers will keep Cunningham, who needs to be waived by Wednesday afternoon to avoid guaranteeing the balance of his $915,000 salary for the 2014-15 season.
Updates:
- Sixers receive: Jared Cunningham, draft rights to Cenk Akyol, cash considerations
- Clippers receive: Draft rights to Serhiy Lishchuk
According to coach Brett Brown, Cunningham was indeed waived by Philadelphia shortly after the trade was completed.
CSNPhilly.com's Dei Lynam writes:
Drafted 59th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2005, the 27-year-old Akyol is averaging 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the Turkish Basketball League.
Lishchuk is a 32-year-old forward from Ukraine who was drafted 49th overall in 2004 by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He is averaging 6.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in eight games for Valencia of the Spanish League.
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Sixerdelphia.com.
