In a move that goes against their apparent plan to stockpile draft picks, the Philadelphia 76ers sent two second-round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for guard Ish Smith on Thursday. Smith had been playing close to 23 minutes per game for the Pelicans, starting three of 27 games played, but he should get plenty of playing time in Philadelphia with the 76ers also waiving guard Tony Wroten.

Smith played 25 games (14 starts) for the 76ers last season, and he averaged 12.0 points, 6.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game with a high usage rate (26.5 percent, via Basketball Reference.com). In his first game back with Philadelphia, Saturday night against the Phoenix Suns, Smith started and had 14 points, five assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block over 31 minutes.

Smith’s per-36-minute averages with New Orleans this season, 13.9 points, 9.0 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals, point to nice upside with more playing time. The recent addition of Mike D’Antoni as an assistant coach in Philadelphia is likely to bring a faster-paced offense, and D’Antoni’s history as a head coach suggests fantasy-friendly numbers for a point guard.

As could be expected, Smith’s ownership rate in fantasy basketball leagues has jumped substantially lately on the heels of the 76ers re-acquiring him and his solid first game back with the team. He is still widely available in Yahoo! (35 percent owned) and ESPN (35.4 percent owned) leagues at this point, but the time to add Smith is definitely now for any fantasy owner that is looking to add guard depth.

An often used equation for fantasy sports is talent+opportunity=fantasy value. Smith clearly has enough of the first portion to be a starter, and the second part playing for a bad 76ers’ team is clear, so fantasy owners that don’t overlook him could get a significant contributor over the rest of the season.

Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.