The Philadelphia 76ers acquired a historically elite 3-point shooter who happens to be married to the coach’s daughter, agreeing to 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, sources told ESPN.
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. He 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 MVP Stephen Curry.
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 athletically and become a better defensive team this offseason.
“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.
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.
