Unless you've been living in isolation from the world the past few days, you know the Sixers have been pretty busy.
They moved quickly at the start of free agency, securing the contracts of big man Andre Drummond and veteran scorer Eric Gordon. They did some internal business by re-signing Kelly Oubre Jr., who gave the team impressive minutes last season, and giving budding superstar Tyrese Maxey a well-deserved max extension. And, of course, they snapped up the biggest catch on the market, agreeing to max terms with Paul George.
Things have been quiet since news broke that George would be joining Maxey, Joel Embiid and the Sixers.
It's almost too quiet.
The 66ers are reportedly losing key players Nicolas Batum and De'Anthony Melton, and are also reportedly considering a sign-and-trade that would send Buddy Hield to the Warriors. Other than that, there aren't many rumors about what the 66ers might do next.
For Daryl Morey, this almost seems intentional: After an aggressive start, the longtime executive appears to be waiting for the market to calm down and wait for the right time to pounce.
As of now, the 76ers have eight players who are either signed or have reportedly agreed to terms on a deal. That includes Embiid, Maxey, George, Drummond and Gordon. Paul Reed's contract is non-guaranteed and his time in Philadelphia appears to be coming to an end, whether he's traded or released. Ricky Council IV is also on a non-guaranteed contract, but there's no sign the 76ers are willing to let go of the young wing.
The team also has first-round pick Jared McKane and second-round pick Adem Bona, both of whom appear to be on standard NBA contracts. With those in mind, and Reed not being here, it looks like the 76ers have nine players and six positions to fill. As of now, if Reed is released and we assume all of the reported contracts are accurate, the team would have roughly $8.9 million in cap space available.
Who they use that space for is complicated. There's been talk of a possible trade with Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, but that seems unlikely (at least for now). They've been linked to two Miami Heat forwards, Caleb Martin and former Sixers forward Haywood Highsmith. After that, they'll fill out the roster with veteran minimum contracts (how about a reunion with Dario Saric?). There's also a good chance, as Brian Toporek deftly pointed out on Tuesday morning, that Morey will use a quirk in the CBA to his advantage, signing KJ Martin to a balloon contract and then trading him midseason.
If the Sixers choose to go that route — waive Reid, sign Highsmith/Caleb Martin to $6-8 million through the 2024-25 season, then fill out the roster with minimum players and execute their plan with KJ Martin — it would largely be considered a great outcome.
But Reid hasn't been waived yet, Martin hasn't signed his balloon contract and, as of this posting, there are few details surrounding a sign-and-trade deal that would send Hield to the Warriors.
Insert Brian Windhorst meme
There's been a lot of talk about the new CBA and how the second apron is the new villain in team building. Toporek has been arguing this angle a lot with LBs as well. The consensus seems to be that the new rules are primarily hitting the “middle class” of the NBA. It's like teams are emphasizing 3-pointers and dunks. In other words, they want stars and cheap role players.
Why is this relevant? Well, Morey may be feeling the need to fill a vacancy on the roster and see the market drying up for this type of player, so he sees an opportunity to wait and see. Oubre didn't sign until September last year, then signed for the minimum as the market dried up. This seems to have worked out pretty well for the Sixers. It seems like there could be more players that fall into this category this year.
Another thought is that a big trade could happen at any time. There have been plenty of rumors about New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram and Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who have both been reported Sixers targets. It's highly unlikely the Sixers would trade for either this summer, but perhaps they'll ride the coattails of those deals.
Consider this: Jrue Holiday didn't join the Celtics until Oct. 1 of last year after the mayhem that was Damian Lillard's departure to the Bucks. That's not to say Morey should wait until then or that the players he could potentially get are at that level. Just that sometimes a patient approach is the best course of action.
Coach Morey did his best to acquire George, and now he seems to be waiting for the right time to put together the ideal team with star players at the core.
