Ah, Willie Green. Unearthed second-round pick. Streaky jump-shooter. Mild-mannered defender. Perpetually over-extended starter. Teammate. Friend. Believe it or not, but after the trade of Samuel Dalembert to Sacramento, Slick Willie was the longest-tenured 76er, having given eight years of service to Liberty Ball. Alas, those days have finally come to an end, as Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that he and big man Jason Smith have been dealt to the New Orleans Hornets, in exchange for journeyman Darius Songaila and first-round pick Craig Brackins.
Personally, I think the deal's a home run--or rather, given the relatively low-stakes players being dealt with here, a legged-out infield single. Not that I have monstrously high hopes for Craig Brackins, the power forward taken out of Iowa State with the 21st pick in the draft, but first-round potential is first-round potential, and neither Green or Smith were likely to be higher than third on the Sixers' depth chart at their respective positions this season. Plus, Songaila is one of the league's weirder-looking dudes, and perhaps he can help get the Sixers back to their turn-of-the-century "Winning ugly" (literally) ways.
For those largley unfamiliar with Brackins, the book on him is that he's a 6'10" power forward with impressive shooting range, even out to the three-point line, where he shot a semi-respectable 31% as a senior. He's a good rebounder and a good athlete, so he should be yet another weapon for the Sixers on the fast break. As for the bad, he took something of a step back in his senior year at Iowa State, with his scoring average dropping four points, and Chad Ford's draft page for him comes with the inauspicious label of "indefferent defender." Hey, he may or may not end up as the answer in the Sixers' front court, but at least he's another educated guess, and given what we saw out of Jason Smith last year, that's certainly a step up.
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I'm not really sure what New Orleans thinks they're getting out of this deal, to be honest. Veteran experience? Bench depth? Unintentional comedy? Hey, maybe playing with Chris Paul will finally get Willie enough open looks to turn him into the Rip Hamilton clone he's always wished he was. In the meantime, though, I'll be pulling out the acoustic.