LA Clippers trade Turkish guard to 76ers

ISTANBUL

27-year-old guard Akyol playing for Anadolu Efes in Turkish Basketball League and was originally drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2005.

The Los Angeles Clippers have traded guard Jared Cunningham along with the draft rights to Turkish guard Cenk Akyol and cash to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the draft rights to Serhiy Lishchuk.

Akyol is a 27-year-old guard playing for Anadolu Efes in Turkish Basketball League and was originally drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2005. He grew up in the Efes junior system and debuted in the Euroleague for the club at age 17, back in the 2004-05 season. He played the next four years with Efes, too, although in late 2007 he left the club to finish the 2007-08 season with Galatasaray. After a year with Air Avellino of Italy, Akyol returned to Efes to play two more seasons before joining Galatasaray in summer 2012. He rejoined Efes at the begining of this season, averaging 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Cunningham appeared in 19 games this season, averaging 1.8 points and 0.5 assists in 4.7 minutes. He signed with the Clippers as a free agent in September. He has played 40 career games in the NBA over three seasons, including with Dallas, Atlanta and Sacramento.

‘’We like him a lot,’’ Clippers coach Doc Rivers said earlier this week. ‘’He’s a great kid.’’

Lishchuk, a 32-year-old forward from Ukraine, was originally drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2004. He has been playing in the Spanish League with Valencia, averaging 6.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in eight games this season.