Vincent Poirier is Disappointed in Sixers, Doc Rivers After Trade
The Philadelphia 76ers were expected to make some moves at the NBA trade deadline this past week. While the Sixers didn't make a series of moves, as many expected, they did partake in a three-team deal involving the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks.
In the deal, the Sixers landed veteran point guard George Hill and the young forward Ignas Brazdeikis. In order to acquire those two, Philly packaged four second-round picks, Tony Bradley, Terrance Ferguson, and Vincent Poirier, to send elsewhere.
Bradley landed in Oklahoma City, while Ferguson and Poirier went to the Knicks. However, unlike Bradley, Poirier and Ferguson weren't actually moving to their trade destinations. Shortly after the deal went through, the Knicks decided to waive Poirier and Ferguson as they only sought out the two picks in the deal.
Poirier, who has just 10 games in a Sixers uniform under his belt, felt disappointed as he doesn't believe he was given a fair shot to prove his worth. “It’s frustrating because I never really had my chance to show what I could bring," Poirier told Le Parisien via EuroHoops.
"We know that the NBA is a world apart. I played in two franchises (Boston and Philadelphia), where the team was well established. It’s hard in these cases to pretend anything. You have to be in the right place at the right time, sometimes it comes down to nothing."
In Philly, Poirier was in a difficult situation. At the center position, the 76ers employed Joel Embiid, who's an MVP-caliber player when healthy. Behind him is a future Hall of Famer in Dwight Howard. Then, there's the young emerging talent that is Tony Bradley, who Poirier had to compete with for the third spot.
The position was overcrowded, and Poirier only had 39 total minutes to prove himself on the court throughout the entire season before getting dealt at the deadline. While he certainly understands the situation, the veteran center remains frustrated with the way everything played out at the trade deadline.
“I wish someone had told me, ‘We were wrong’, ‘You can’t play with us’. I like it when things are straight,” Poirier also mentioned on the Sixers trading him. “The coach didn’t even send me a message although I know he sent others. I’m not asking him to give me compliments but just a message to wish me good luck. We are not commodities, we are still human beings. It’s a minimum of sending a message, to say that the situation was complicated, but thank you for your professionalism. A bogus thing, even if he doesn’t really mean it.”
According to Poirier, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers didn't reach out to him after discovering he was getting traded to the Knicks last Thursday. Although Poirier didn't seek validation or anything, a simple "good luck" would've made him feel better after the trade. Unfortunately, it seems the communication was off between the Sixers and Poirier as he parted ways with the organization.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.
