Jakarr Sampson was waived by the Sixers, will he return?

You likely heard that former St. John's forward JaKarr Sampson was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday. The team traded for Miami center Joel Anthony and a second-round 2017 pick, exchanging the signing rights to an overseas player.

#sixers get Denver's 2017 2nd rd pick along with Joel Anthony. Sending out rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum. Will need to open roster spot.

— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) February 18, 2016

More on the mechanics of the trade are here, but the Sixers traded for a player who has to land on their roster... so someone had to go, at least temporarily. The player whose rights we traded, Maduabum, has played in six countries (including Qatar, his native Nigeria, and Mongolia) but was recently cut by a team in Finland, and has not landed a new job yet.

Sampson, who spent two years at St. John's starting for Steve Lavin's teams, has played 11 minutes - in two of five of the Sixers' games - in February. And Jakarr, who averaged five points and two rebounds with the Sixers this season, always been a fringe player, the kind of developmental player some say the team likes to employ to help them lose games (or, conversely, the kind of potential-laden player they want to develop into an inexpensive rotation player as the roster improves).

BUT!

The Sixers want to resign JaKarr Sampson after he clears waivers, according to a league source.

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 18, 2016

So there you go. St. John's will continue to have three players in the NBA - Maurice Harkless, Metta World Peace (the onetime Ron Artest) and Sampson - if everything goes well. The Sixers' blog Liberty Ballers is rooting for the return of Sampson.

They also share this gif. Enjoy!