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Dallas Mavericks acquire Nerlens Noel in trade

Five months after Nerlens Noel started complaining about the Sixers’ frontcourt logjam, the situation has been resolved. Philly fans wanted to see the Noel/Joel combination work, so much that they once gave a standing ovation on a possession where Noel and Joel Embiid passed the ball to each other and drew a foul. But the pair played just eight minutes together.

Anderson is, position-wise, a better fit for the Sixers than Noel and has two more seasons (after this one) on his rookie contract. But if he’s going to complement Embiid and Ben Simmons, he’ll need to shoot better. This season, Anderson has shot just 30 percent from 3-point range and a brutal 2-for-24 from mid-range.

Going forward, the Sixers have Simmons and Dario Saric to play the four. And even if they trade Jahlil Okafor, they have another young back-up big – Richaun Holmes – on a cheap contract behind Embiid. They could still use some help in the backcourt, but could have two more Lottery picks this year. They can swap picks with Sacramento if the Kings’ pick is better and they’ll get the Lakers’ pick if it falls outside the top three.

There’s almost no chance that the Dallas pick — protected 1-18 — conveys this year. It’s unclear what the protections are beyond that.

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