Prior to the deadline, the Sixers were involved in a trade with Detroit and Houston that netted them a second-round pick in 2017 and Joel Anthony, who was going to be waived upon completion of the deal. That won't matter anymore as the Pistons and the NBA are in the process of voiding the deal due to Donatas Motiejunas failing his physical in Detroit.
Houston's 3-team trade of Donatas Motiejunas is in process of being voided by Detroit in accordance with the NBA, sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 22, 2016
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports and The Vertical confirmed what Charania had tweeted, noting that Detroit wasn't passing Motiejunas on his physical.
Motiejunas has been dealing with lingering back issues after surgery just over a year ago. He's appeared in only 14 games this season.
With the deal being voided, Motiejunas, Marcus Thornton and Denver's 2017 second-round pick, that was going to Philadelphia, will head back to Houston. Joel Anthony and the Pistons 2016 top-eight protected first round pick goes back to Detroit and the Sixers retain the rights to draft-and-stash player Chukwudiebere Maduabum.
After the trade was announced, the Sixers waived JaKarr Sampson to facilitate the deal, but he's since signed a two-year contract with the Denver Nuggets. So not only do the Sixers not receive a second-round pick for absorbing Joel Anthony's salary, but they also lose JaKarr Sampson on waivers to Denver. Makes you wonder if the Sixers and Sampson had talked about a release prior to the deal being approved anyway.
Brandon Apter is the Managing Editor for Sixerdelphia.com
