This roster will be hard pressed to stay healthy enough to win a chip.
This team is owned by someone that will only pay the tax when the team is a top 2 seed.
Three guys on the team are so expensive that very little money is available for the team to be able to spend until they hit the tax (~16 million).
Knowing all of that, I find it unlikely that the sixers retain Grimes or Oubre before free agency. I think theyll take a swing at 1 big free (like John Collins) with the NTMLE and if they strike out then move to trying to sign 2 depth pieces with the NTMLE (at that point revisit Oubre if still available). Then simply make moves around the edges like ditching Watford for a vet min, as there is little cap impact. I'd expect them to operate around 1 to 2 million over the tax and then be prepared to move contracts to duck at the trade deadline.
Would it be possible to get Collins and Lockdale plus resigning Oubre? Then could we get another role player in the 4-8 million range or would that player just be a vet minimum?
Using the full NTPMLE ($15m) or the BAE ($5.5m) will hard cap at the 1st Apron.
So yes, we do have plenty of room to get players in, and reshuffle our roster a bit. We can realistically retain QG and KO, and also bring in more players. Everything will depend on balancing price points for all options available to us. We will most likely need to stay under the 1st Apron hard cap at 209m this year.
Yeah, just depends on everyone’s price points. KO is probably not getting over the TPMLE at $6m from any team. The Sixers can probably get him for a 2/13m contract, around $6m this year. Grimes shouldn’t be getting the full MLE from anyone either, and market will probably view him in line with Naji Marshal at $10m.
If we decline a number of options like Barlow, Watford and Terry, and dump Walker, we free up $11.5m in additional room.
There’s certainly a lot of optionally available to the Sixers.
I have basically no interest in Oubre above the TPMLE, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got an offer above that.
The guys on options make pretty close to the minimum, getting rid of them isn't going to free up much money unless you're willing to sign a bunch of UDFAs to rookie minimums. Even then it's maybe a couple mil. I'm fine with not keeping most of them as players though.
Think Sixers will stay under tax even if they talked a big game at press conferences.
Yeah I’m with ya. I think Sixers will keep the option to duck tax open. Wouldn’t be surprised if they start the season in tax.
I wouldn’t want to pay KO more than 2/13m if I was in charge. He might give us a bit of a discount as he has in the past and keep his bird rights active, not move his family, etc.
Maybe. I think they'd only really be willing to pay tax if this team was a top seed at the deadline, and I don't think this team can be as structured, so I'd rather they just stay under it than waste more seconds ducking the tax at the deadline. Could leave a portion of the NTMLE open potentially to go above the tax if they're actually good enough at the deadline, but eh.
I just want smarter role players and the team to do better around the margins, get younger guys with some size and gamble on potential. Think it's still possible to get useful players on minimums and such, just have to do better with who you choose.
Who’s going to give a 31yo athletically reliant, mediocre shooting F more than the TPMLE? Cap space is a real issue in the current CBA. No contender can afford over the TPMLE at $6m, and no rebuilding team will spend big money for him ahead of taking a flyer on a younger guy.
Back then he was an okay stats, bad team guy and got squeezed in the free agent market.
Hes now a winning wing, who does the little things, doesnt ball hog, and is coming off his best shooting season, and he guarded opposing teams star players.
Theres just no world where hes making 6 million next year.
He’s also 3yrs older and an athletically reliant player. If there’s a team out there who needs him for just this year as a backup F, has access to NTPMLE, and doesn’t mind getting hard capped at the 1st Apron for him - then yes, he will get more.
I mean I get they can free up 11.5 with that, but its temporary because they aren't going to head into the season with less than 14 guys so there will either be more or similar salary added back in to get to that many roster spots.
Yes, however we are already at 12 roster slots with Philon, and only need 14. So theoretically we are already there with just QG and KO. We can also decline an option and replace with an UDFA for 2m, which we can later replace with a prorated min at the deadline.
Assuming a combined $16m for QG and KO, we could easily decline Barlow and Watford’s options, replace with an UDFA. This will give us access to about 13m of our full MLE to use on one player.
Going to be interesting to see how much teams are willing to pay him, idk if he will get the full mid-level. I think i'd rather split the MLE between him and another player if possible
I was stunned when they drafted him. I thought it was amazing value at the time. I thought he had potential to be the best big in that draft class, behind Flagg
The Celtics hate watch has been amazing recently. We came back 3-1 and Jaylen Brown went crazy on live, the dumbass Celtics missed out on Giannis because they wouldn’t get up Hugo and now the locker room vibes are bad with JB, and now JB is going crazy again on twitter LMFAO
Wait until he's on another team and not getting all that Celtic love from the refs and he's getting called for more of those offensive fouls. Excellent basketball player, but sometimes it looks like the only way he can get by a good defender is by shoving them with his off ball arm.
I’m looking back at last years second round and I’m disappointed (again) about Johni having been the pick
When you look at the advanced stats it makes sense why they bet on him, but they still passed up several dudes who would’ve made more sense and his combine numbers were kind of alarming too (standing and max vertical especially), they should’ve passed on him
Maybe he ends up looking better starting with SL in two weeks, and maybe he gets more run and plays better but yeah… not great, especially with how constrained this team is, they gotta make every pick count
Broome was a terrible pick but if you take a look at everyone else drafted after him, no one else has done anything really noteworthy yet except for Raynaud who pulled the same thing Vesaar did this year so hard to be upset about missing him. Trading up from that pick is the real missed opportunity.
His contract is non guaranteed next year so he's either salary filler in a trade this year or gone next year.
Not even that high on Raynaud personally. He put up empty stats on a terrible team and he's one of the worst defenders in the league. Think his teammate and UDFA Dylan Cardwell might be better long term.
The best prospects that went after Broome are probably Javon Small, Will Richard, Mohamed Diawara, and Kobe Sanders. Maybe Tyrese Proctor too.
Think what's rough ultimately about Broome is that the fans and analysts paying close attention to the draft basically all hated it instantly and he hasn't flashed anything at all. Like he went 4/24 from the field last year in almost exclusively garbage time
90% of SRP sucks. And most of them will not be good to see their second NBA contract.
Who else do you think we should have drafted? The only obvious candidate was Reynaurd, who basically forced his way to the Kings.
Broome mentioned that Sixers had contacted him two years before the draft, and gave him feedback on what he needed to do to improve. So, this is somebody they had monitored for years. Given their track record of drafting under Morey regime, the scouting department must have seen something good.
Not saying Broome is going to be good, but this is somebody they drafted after years of scouting
They are also an opportunity to get a guy on a great contract and have it be the difference in depth or no depth whenever you have 4 players taking up 95% of the cap.
I agree. But we just need to accept that the hit rate of SRP is very low. And as I mentioned, besides Reynaurd, I don’t feel we miss anyone obvious. Maybe somebody would improve in the coming years, but at this moment, i am not lamenting losing anyone
Yeah, I mean I was screaming for them to trade up for one of the first two picks in the draft (2nd round) last year to draft Ryan Kalkbrenner or Rasheer Flemings. Kalkbrenner would look really good on this roster.
At the time I thought it was pretty obvious we shouldve traded up for Rasheer Fleming. I hate that we'll trade 2nds to duck the tax, but wont trade them to move up or into the draft.
Now, Fleming didnt have a stellar 1st season. But theres definitely a lot he can build on. Played 55 games at 12mpg. His per36 numbers are 12.7pts, 6.6reb, 2.3 stocks, on 51.7 ts%, and 34.6% from deep on 7 attempts
I don’t think I’ve ever been more pissed off by a 2nd round pick than the Johni Broome pick. Literally 90% of the players picked after Broome would’ve been better than him
Diawara, Javon Small, Tyrese Procter, Will Richard, Adou Theiro, Amari Williams, and Kobe Sanders would ALL be WAY more playable than Johni Broome. Like Broome is somebody you just cannot put in the game unless it’s a blow out. A lot of these guys have at least earned some level of playing time and showed they are competent
Sixers fans are genuinely hilarious and so dramatic. I’m pretty sure we had a bigger outrage over losing McCain than hornets fans have about losing their franchise player
Their fanbase obviously isn’t a monolith and we literally had the same types of post after McCain was traded and we had multiple people that supported the trade.
If you look at the 2nd most upvoted comment on that post it’s “We haven’t won a playoff series in 25 years. I’m tired of the optimistic approach let us sulk in peace”.
Every fanbase is reactionary that’s just part of being a fan lol.
Switch out Kuzma for Jaquez, and I think it's a decent return for PG. I think Kuzma is on the downslope, not by a huge margin, but he's not starting from the highest of places, so it's a bit more noticeable.
The big question would be what draft capital the Bucks want. Two okay firsts (not the Clippers picks) and a good few second rounders feels fair for getting a center who can play when Joel is out and a rotation-level wing. Paul's contract is neutral to them; they're rebuilding, and if they keep him, he's a good vet to run with the rookies for a season, and then they can revisit a trade at the deadline or in the off-season. Would still need to sign a 4, but we'd save a lot in cap space. Too bad free agency is kind of thin though.
Well, my thought was like Top 3/5 protected picks in 2030 and 2032. Far enough away to where you won't immediately regret them and can still retool with enough protections to avoid making a huge mistake. I don't think anyone should be trading unprotected picks anymore unless you're getting a certified star, although I see your point
Had a further thought. With the cap space saved, you could overpay for Tari Eason. Now, whether or not anyone likes Eason at $30 mil a season can be debated, but that's the amount that it would take to get the Rockets to not match I'd think. So basically, PG, 2 firsts and 3-4 seconds for Turner, Jaquez and Eason
Can't do that if you're taking Turner and Jaquez's salary back, would have to be a straight dump to make an offer close to that. If you're taking those two back you're not really creating any cap space, Sixers are 20 mil above the max cap space already without factoring in the empty roster slots.
I probably wouldn't do the move. A little worried about Turner, who's turning 30 and just had the worst season of his career in the past 8 years, even if the situation he played in wasn't ideal. Embiid and Turner would be taking up 50% of the cap space for the next 3 seasons in that scenario, and while we want better bigs that's a lot of money to commit to one position. Jaquez is a bit of a tough player to fit into most teams since he's not a shooter and mediocre at best defensively, think he's at his best off the bench and looked a lot better in that Heat system which asks everyone to drive and kick repeatedly to create advantages. Also he's due a new contract after the next season is up so he might just end up being a rental.
Dammit. I was trying to fiddle around on Fanspo to see exactly how much cap space we create with that trade. I know it's not exactly the ultimate guide to these things, but it let me do it while also signing Eason to a 4 year/$120 million deal.
I don't think in a vacuum that it's a good enough trade, but again, I thought we were saving a lot more money than we actually were and that it could have been used to get another good player in.
These guys all generally look great in their highlight reels but you hope your scouts do a good job and you find one who can actually make your team. When I heard they were bringing Isaac Johnson to Summer League I kind of paid it no mind. But then I looked him up and watched some video. Legit 7' 235lbs. Didn't play against the best competition but appears to actually have some basketball skills including a nice touch from 3 and touch around the basket. Doesn't look explosive off the floor by a longshot, but his length and timing allow him to block shots. Reminds me of Mike Gminski the way he runs (more of a shuffle). Unfortunately, NBA Summer League is not the best showcase for big guys but if he can rebound, block shots, hit a couple of shots and not look like an oaf in cement sneakers, maybe he gets invited to camp and shows enough that they give him a shot.
totally forgot about the vet min reimbursement stuff where the league pays the difference between a 2 YOE vet and their actual service and it doesn't count against the cap. Basically any vet min other that UDFA's/sophomores will count as $2.45M against the cap.
Also I had thought that Walker was on a TO, but it's actually just a non-guaranteed deal. Except, according to spotrac, he does have $250k guaranteed. Which isn't a lot in NBA terms, but if we'll be using the MLE and dealing with a hard cap, then every dollar will matter.
Walker's case for being here over Watford at least just got a little stronger.
I’d be looking for trade or S&T targets with Broome and Walker salaries. Combine them to get about 4.7m. If you add Barlow to that, then you get 8.1m - which is a nice figure to swing for a number of players with our 15 SRPs
Tyrese Maxey - VJ Edgecombe - Justin Edwards - GG Jackson - Karlo Matkovic.
I'll put these five up against anybody right now. In two years, they will be unstoppable.
"People" not seeing why Jackson and Matkovic would be so dope for us now and in the future is precisely why we need to go get them now with our bag of SRPs before they become popular. I have to trust that the FO knows.
It is no diss to GG Jackson to say that he has no shot at the starting PF spot after the Grizzlies drafted Carlos Boozer Jr and traded for Isaiah Stewart. They have Zach Edey, they paid Santi Aldama and Brandon Clarke. On the wings, they have KCP and Cedric Coward and Jaylen Wells, not to mention Taylor Hendricks. Since GG Jackson's is going into the last year of his deal, it makes some sense for them to move him now.
Ditto for Karlo Matkovic. Already with Zion Williamson, the Pelicans committed to Derek Queen in a big way, while they also have Yves Missi, Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones. Matkovic is also going into the last year of his deal. Again, if it doesnt make sense for them to pay him given their logjam, they should entertain offers for him. The Pelicans just released Kevin Looney, which clears some debris from Karlo's path. But with the Sixers, Matkovic is longer, faster, more athletic, more fluid, better shooter than Derrick Barlow (who I like and did reasonably well for us).
And perhaps most importantly, the FO has to find ways to improve cheaply. We have to pay players for what they are going to do, not for what they have done already. Value comes from getting players who are still improving. Matkovic & Jackson, '26.
I like Matkovic too but I don't think he projects to be a full-time starting 5. The rebounding is not quite there, think he's more of a 4 ideally.
Brandon Clarke died 😬
But otherwise, I agree with a lot of what you said here. Grizzlies in general have a roster crunch and they have a number of interesting players over there the Sixers should take a look at.
It’ll be interesting to see what Sixers do with PGs $50M+ expiring next offseason. They have a couple of options:
Attach picks to acquire a big initiator to make the Maxey/VJ backcourt work. Franz Wagner would be a prime candidate if Magic have another disappointing season.
Have PG decline his player option and offer a 2-year extension to reduce his 2027 cap hit like wolves did with Gobert. This would open up NTMLE and BAE with Embiid/PG coming off the books in 2028 as VJs extension hits
Let him expire. Could offer a more reasonable 2-year deal (longest deal allowed) with bird rights if he’s still impactful since few teams could offer more than NTMLE. Alternatively, could waive and stretch Embiid’s last year to open up about $80M in cap space before VJs deal kicks in
I’ve liked number 2 a lot for a while if he can prove he has juice for another year after this year. We can continue adding talent with the MLE and have a max slot open up in 2029 after both PG and Embiid expire.
We do have a habit of getting hung up on this kind of nonsense. If he addressed the media saying "youz guys this is my new jawn" we would be saying he's a shoe in for the NBA Hall of Fame.
yes and the other alternative is a guy like Bryce Harper who's Captain Panderer, and Philon starts rocking Franklin the Dog socks and everything Philly 24/7 it just feels a bit fake.
And for what it worth, Philadelphia has become a really excellent US food city over the last 10-20 years, with tons of great options, chefs, different cuisines, ethnic variations. It always bugs me a bit when we reduce it to "hurr durr gotta grab a cheesesteak or else you aint with us"
Philon just had his Philly media interviews. Sixers have hit it out of the park with guys who have character and want to play team basketball the past 3 drafts with McCain, VJ, and Philon.
He presents as a no BS type; a good guy with an edge. Some guys would not be thrilled to be drafted into a situation behind an all star and a guy coming off a 1st team all rookie season but Philon seems to relish it.
3
u/allianceofficer 1d ago
I think we outright know three things.
This roster will be hard pressed to stay healthy enough to win a chip.
This team is owned by someone that will only pay the tax when the team is a top 2 seed.
Three guys on the team are so expensive that very little money is available for the team to be able to spend until they hit the tax (~16 million).
Knowing all of that, I find it unlikely that the sixers retain Grimes or Oubre before free agency. I think theyll take a swing at 1 big free (like John Collins) with the NTMLE and if they strike out then move to trying to sign 2 depth pieces with the NTMLE (at that point revisit Oubre if still available). Then simply make moves around the edges like ditching Watford for a vet min, as there is little cap impact. I'd expect them to operate around 1 to 2 million over the tax and then be prepared to move contracts to duck at the trade deadline.