Goodbye, Brooklyn: Philadelphia claims Thomas Robinson off waivers

Portland Trail Blazers forward Thomas Robinson, right, shoots against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, from Greece, left, and center Zaza Pachulia, from Ukraine, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014.(AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

Thomas Robinson will not play for the NBA team we thought he was going to play for.

Last week, headed into the trade deadline, the third-year power forward was a Portland Trail Blazer.

Then he got shipped to Denver on Thursday.

A few days later, Denver waived him on Sunday.

Reports on Monday indicated Brooklyn would sign Robinson. That scenario, though, assumed that no team would claim him off waivers.

Tuesday afternoon, Philadelphia threw a wrench in the plans. Had the 76ers not grabbed him, Robinson would be a member of the Nets by the end of the day. Instead, he’s off to Philly.

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Sixers made the move for salary cap purposes.

Philadelphia — you’ve probably heard — is kind of awful (12-44, 14th in the Eastern Conference). But that might be good news for Robinson. It’s hard to imagine a team where he’d have more of an opportunity to play and actually prove that he belongs in the league.

Robinson had averaged 3.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in just 12.2 minutes this season in Portland.

The Sixers’ only big men of note are Nerlens Noel and recently acquired JaVale McGee.

Would-be rookie Joel Embiid is easing his way back to full health, and the 76ers have no reason to play him until the Summer League.

Now Robinson, the former Kansas standout, should have the rest of the season to showcase his explosiveness and rebounding.

And then he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. And he can move on. Again.

So, to recap: after being drafted by Sacramento, traded to Houston, traded to Portland, traded to Denver and waived by Denver without ever playing a game. The 76ers will be Robinson’s fourth NBA team.

We assume.

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