An NBA(-ish) transaction in September! We’ll take it.
We have a NBA-related transaction in September! The Delaware Blue Coats were a part of a five-team trade, in which they acquired RJ Hampton and a 2024 second-round pick from the Osceola Magic. The Blue Coats sent out the returning player rights of Javonte Smart to the Osceola Magic.
In a five-team trade, the Delaware Blue Coats acquire RJ Hampton from the Capital City Go-Go and a 2024 second-round pick from the Osceola Magic. To complete the trade, Delaware sends the returning player rights of Javonte Smart to the Osceola Magic. pic.twitter.com/btw4DmPtCs
— Delaware Blue Coats (@blue_coats) September 6, 2024
RJ Hampton is a name many readers will know for one reason or another. He was a former first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, drafted by the Denver Nuggets. Hampton was traded to Orlando in the deal that brought Aaron Gordon to Denver in 2021, spending two and a half years there before being traded yet again. He had short stints in Detroit and Miami, and has since spent time in the G League.
Hampton’s best production came during his tenure with the Orlando Magic, where he averaged 7.1 points in just under 19 minutes per game, shooting 41 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from three.
Now, after appearing with Philadelphia in this past Summer League, he’ll be playing (quite literally) underneath the Sixers yet again. While Hampton has struggled with efficiency and shooting, he is still somehow only 23 years old. The Blue Coats have developed several NBA talents in recent years with Paul Reed, Shake Milton, Jeff Dowtin Jr., just to name a few. Maybe Hampton can stick given some coaching and development.
This trade also marks the complete end to the Javonte Smart era in Philadelphia and Wilmington. Smart was a two-way contract for the Sixers/Blue Coats for a few months last season, later being waived to make room for Kenny Lofton Jr. He appeared in one game for the Sixers.