One NBA squad is looking silly for not holding on to a Duke basketball gem.
Duke basketball great Seth Curry, now in his seventh NBA season and first with the Philadelphia 76ers after going undrafted in 2013, continues to rank No. 1 among active players in career 3-point percentage (44.5). Plus, that mark still sits No. 2 on the all-time list, trailing only Steve Kerr (45.4), who nowadays boasts eight championship rings (five as a player, three as a coach).
Speaking of rings, the 30-year-old Curry is in a much better position than his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, to potentially earn one this year.
And after the Eastern Conference’s first-place 76ers (22-11) secured a 111-97 home victory over the Western Conference’s mediocre Mavericks (15-16) on Thursday night, the 6-foot-2 guard expressed his opinion regarding the franchise that has twice traded him away:
“Never nothing personal, man. I got a lot of respect for a lot of those guys over there . I just think they made a bad business decision. But it happens all the time, you know what I’m saying? It is what it is.”
Former Duke basketball sniper providing evidence of the Dallas blunder
During November’s 2020 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks agreed to send the 30-year-old Seth Curry to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the 27-year-old Josh Richardson and the No. 36 overall selection from that night, Tyler Bey.
Fast forward to Thursday’s box score.
Curry contributed 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block to the 76ers across his 29 minutes on the court. In the process, the full-time starter drained all three of his shots from deep.
Now, Curry is on track for career-highs this season via averages of 13.0 points and 29.6 minutes to go along with even-hotter-than-normal shooting beyond the arc (46.8 percent) and from the foul line (93.8 percent).
As for the man Philly gave up to snag Curry, Richardson also drew his usual starting nod, finishing with 13 points and six boards for the Mavericks. Yet the 6-foot-5 wing came up empty in all four of his attempts from downtown; meanwhile, Bey is currently playing in the G League.
Sure, Richardson is averaging 12.9 points of his own. On the other hand, that’s heading toward a personal three-year low. Moreover, he’s launching more 3-pointers per game than Curry while finding the bottom of the net only 30.1 percent of the time.
Ouch. A clear mistake by Dallas, indeed.
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