Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry said there was nothing personal about playing against the NBA team that negotiated it.
The 76ers handily defeated their former team, the Mavericks, by 111 to 97 on Thursday night, in a game in which Curry contributed 15 points by converting in all his attempts at three points.
“I think they made a bad business decision,” said Curry after the game, via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
The Mavericks traded Curry for the 76ers on the night of the draft for Josh Richardson and the 36th overall choice.
In his first season with his new team, Curry averaged 13 points per game and converted 46.8% of his shots behind the hoop, which is the seventh best in the league.
On the other hand, Josh Richardson converted just 30.1% to three points this season. As a Sixer, Richardson hit 34.1% of his three strokes last season, so Curry is giving the Sixers more offensive production this season.
In addition to scoring 15 points, Seth Curry secured a plus-under +17 rating in Thursday’s game. Richardson, on the other hand, scored 13 points, missed all four of his three points and had a plus-minus score of -24, so Curry has one point.
RELATED: NBA insider claims Dallas Mavericks is buying Kristaps Porzingis
Thursday’s game showed how the off-season trade between the Sixers and the Mavs was uneven. Coming this season, the Sixers’ biggest problem was that they lacked reliable snipers around their two superstars, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Now, with the acquisitions of Curry and Danny Green, the Sixers are at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, look similar to the team the Sixers were in last season. Its star player, Luka Doncic, was limited to 19 points in Thursday’s action due to the double of Embiid-Simmons doubling him up. Even if the Mavs were losing their second best player in Kristaps Porzingis, their success cannot live and die in Doncic and Porzingis.
Even if Curry said nothing after the game, the bad business decision would have been made clear to anyone watching the two teams’ game.