The Philadelphia 76ers traded for Royce White in early July, sending just “future considerations” to the Houston Rockets in order to acquire the 2012 first-round pick and Turkish prospect Furkan Aldemir. It turns out that the little-known Aldemir, not the embattled White, was apparently the object of the Sixers’ affection.
It made sense for new 76ers GM Sam Hinkie to pick up White considering he came from Houston and likely knew about the internal issues that kept White from ever actually playing a regular season game for the Rockets. Hinkie spoke pretty openly -- at least by his standards -- to Tom Moore at the Bucks County Courier Times on Friday, however, and it seems that the Sixers might not be all that high on the enigmatic White.As for the embattled White, Hinkie answered a question about White’s possible role on the team generically and never mentioned White by name.
An NBA source said the Rockets, who dealt him to the Sixers on July 6 along with a second-round pick and Turkish power forward Furkan Aldemir for future considerations and cash, are picking up the $1.7 million salary of White, who has an anxiety disorder and is afraid to fly. That means the Sixers have nothing invested in White — and that the 21-year-old Aldemir was the primary target in the deal, which the source confirmed.
If the Sixers don’t actually owe White anything this season, as Moore reports, it would seem that they likely wouldn’t put up with a lot hen it comes to the former Iowa State Cyclone. That likely means that he’ll probably be cut if he’s serious about not flying again this season (he gave an emphatic “Hell no” when asked about the possibility this summer), especially if the Sixers don’t like what they see in training camp. That’s a possibility, too, considering White showed up out of basketball shape when the Rockets finally convinced him to play in the D-League last season.
Let’s all hope that White’s situation turns out the best for everyone involved basketball-wise, but it sounds like White is already doing his part to make a difference off the court.