76ers continues bizarre trend of adding Celtics alumni with Tacko Fall addition

The Philadelphia 76ers have certainly tried to build the best contender they can this offseason. That's actually nothing new in the Joel Embiid era for obvious reasons, but what's odder is that not only have they added a few Boston Celtics alumni this summer, but that specific action has been a recurring theme for them in the past decade.

Tacko Fall is the latest Celtics alum to join the Sixers, joining Jaylen Brown and Anfernee Simons among the former Boston players to join the City of Brotherly Love.

Fall is a rather eccentric addition considering he last playhed in the NBA four years ago, but if Philly sees something, they have every right to explore it. However, this continues a Philadelphia pattern where they keep adding played previously tied to Boston.

This trend goes beyond a decade, as it started with the Sixers bringing in Phil Pressey in 2015 after he spent his first two seasons in Boston. They were tanking, so it's not like this was the biggest deal, but this gradually kept happening.

The following season, they added Jerryd Bayless, who had spent a half-season in Boston when they were tanking, but the season after that was when they kicked it into high gear with adding Celtics alumni for some reason.

In 2017, they brought in Amir Johnson, Demetrius Jackson, and James Young all right after their final season in Boston. None of those three really did anything in Philly, but this trend was just odd to see play out. Then the Sixers kept doing it.

The following season, they brought back Johnson and Jackson while bringing in Greg Monroe directly after his season in Boston. Again, this didn't change their outcome much, but no one knew exactly why they kept doing this

Finally, the Sixers brought in a Celtics alum who was bound to hurt Boston by doing so: Al Horford. Horford leaving Boston definitely hurt them, but it hurt Philadelphia more to bring him in, as he basically turned out to be a Trojan Horse.

Because of how horribly that situation panned out for them, the Sixers backed off the strategy for a time. Until this summer, they have only added a few Celtics alumni from 2020 to 2026, featuring only Marcus Morris Sr., Oshae Brissett, Lonnie Walker IV (does he count?), and Guerschon Yabusele.

But oh boy, the trend back very much in action this summer. The Sixers want to make the best team they've had with Embiid this summer, and if they believe adding former Celtics is the way to do it, all the power to them!

Celtics have added Sixers alumni too

The Celtics have added a few Sixers alumni, but not to the point where it feels like a pattern. More importantly, they've added them either to strengthen their title odds or to get someone who would, in turn, strengthen theirs.

Josh Richardson was a Sixer before he was a Celtic, but in one of Brad Stevens' most underrated moves, he was used to get Derrick White. Boston brought in Nik Stauskas not too long afterward, but he was then used as cap filler to get Malcolm Brogdon. Same thing more or less goes for Mike Muscala, who was then used to get Kristaps Porzingis.

There's no better example of this than Jrue Holiday, though it had been over a decade since he last played for the Sixers. They brought him in believing he was the last piece of their title puzzle, and they were right.

So yes, the Celtics have added a few Sixers alumni over the past decade, but not nearly to the same degree the other way around.

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