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76ers sign Ish Smith, waive Malcolm Thomas

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Look out, Jim Jackson. Ish Smith is coming.

Smith will soon play for the eighth team of his young NBA career, as the Philadelphia 76ers have signed him. Smith was acquired by the New Orleans Pelicans from the Oklahoma City Thunder at Thursday's trade deadline and immediately waived, with the guard-strapped Sixers swooping in to secure the 26-year-old and assume the remainder of his $861,405 salary for the season.

Undrafted out of Wake Forest, Smith has gotten cups of coffee with seven different organizations, never playing more than 70 games with any team. He'll now get a brief stint with the 76ers before becoming an unrestricted free agent after the season, free to sign with a ninth team.

When Smith hits the floor with Philadelphia, he'll become the 76th player in league history to suit up with eight different franchises. With so much career ahead of him, if Smith can prove himself worthy of a roster spot consistently, he has a legitimate chance at matching Jackson and three others with a record 12 franchises players for. Mike James is the active leader, having played for 11 clubs, while Lou Amundson and Drew Gooden have each played for 10.

The 76ers waived Malcolm Thomas to make room for Smith. Thomas had averaged 2.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17 games with the team.

Tim Frazier is playing on a 10-day contract and could have been a candidate to be waived but the team is short on guards, with Tony Wroten out for the season, Michael Carter-Williams traded and the shoot-first, shoot-second Isaiah Canaan the only other point guard on the roster.

In any case, Smith should see a fair amount of playing time with the Sixers. In 221 career games, he's averaged 10.6 minutes, scoring 2.7 points and dishing 1.9 assists.

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