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UPDATE: The Blazers did not make a claim on Tony Wroten. He is now an unrestricted free agent, and can sign with any team he likes.
Tony Wroten has cleared waivers, league source tells Yahoo. He's a free agent now. Sixers waived him on Thursday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 26, 2015
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The Philadelphia 76ers waived guard Tony Wroten today, clearing a roster spot for the recently acquired Ish Smith.
The Sixers are releasing guard Tony Wroten to make room for acquired guard Ish Smith, a source told Yahoo Sports.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) December 24, 2015
Wroten has averaged 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in eight appearances for the 76ers this season. He missed the beginning of 2015-16 season recovering from an ACL tear he suffered last January.
Despite his relatively pedestrian stats this season, the decision to waive Wroten was somewhat surprising given the 76ers lack of depth at guard. Wroten averaged 16.9 points and 5.2 assists per game last year before his injury and seemed primed to become a serviceable combo guard.
Wroten will now be placed on waivers and teams will have until 5:00 p.m. on December 26 to claim him. Ten teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers, have enough cap space or a trade exception large enough to claim Wroten. Any team claiming him will then take on the remainder of his $2.2 million contract. If more than one team claims Wroten the team with the worse record will have priority. Of the teams capable of taking on his contract, only Brooklyn has a worse record than the Blazers.
Wroten is eligible to be claimed from the following teams; BKN, POR, MIN, MIL, UTH, WAS, MIA, OKC, CLE, GSW. https://t.co/YoTqBm19Wo
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) December 24, 2015
Wroten would be an appealing addition to the Portland roster. The Blazers lack depth at the point guard position and desperately need another playmaker to support CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard. While the 76ers may fear that Wroten will not fully recover from his injury, acquiring him for the rest of the season and giving the Blazers' cutting edge training staff a chance to aid his rehab carries minimal risk. If Wroten does return to form, Portland would have an explosive three-guard rotation.
The Blazers would need to waive a player to claim Wroten. The most likely candidate would be Cliff Alexander who has a non-guaranteed contract and has played just 31 minutes this season.
Wroten originally hails from Seattle and attended Garfield High School and the University of Washington. He shares both alma maters with Blazers legend Brandon Roy.
Readers: Do you want Neil Olshey to claim Wroten off waivers?
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