The Philadelphia 76ers acquired a historically elite 3-point shooter who happens to be married to the coach’s daughter, completing a draft-night trade that sent shooting guard Josh Richardson and the No. 36 pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft to the Dallas Mavericks for Seth Curry.
Curry, whose father-in-law is new Sixers coach Doc Rivers, addresses Philadelphia’s glaring need for perimeter shooting to complement stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Curry ranks second in NBA history in career 3-point percentage (44.3%), behind only current Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and four spots ahead of his brother, two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
Seth Curry, 30, averaged 12.4 points per game for the Mavs last season in the first year of a four-year, $32 million contract. He shot a career-best 45.2% from 3-point range.
“Having a truly gravity elite shooter really changes the dynamic for Ben and Joel,” 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said late Wednesday night of trading for Curry. “Those who watch the Sixers up close and personal — like you have longer than me — when Joel and Ben have had that, it’s actually insane how good those lineups and how good those teams played when everyone was healthy.
“So that was really the theme for tonight. Getting Seth — you can argue for him as the best shooter in the NBA — was really exciting.”
Richardson, who averaged 13.7 points per game last season after arriving in Philadelphia in the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade deal, fits Dallas’ desire to upgrade physical performance and become a better defensive team.
“Coming off last season, our offense was historically great, but we need to get our defense better,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after Dallas drafted wing Josh Green with the No. 18 pick. “Some of it is going to be the kind of work we put in during training camp, but the other part of it is when we draft and when we acquire players, we want them to have that kind of mindset and ability.”
The No. 36 pick was used to select Colorado forward Tyler Bey, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season.
