While the Sixers are disappointed by how quickly their playoff run ended this spring, there are reasons for optimism going forward. For one, guard Tyrese Maxey showed this season that he’s an impact player capable of becoming a legitimate second star alongside center Joel Embiid, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“He was amazing this year,” Embiid said of his teammate, per Mizell. “One of the 10 best players in the world this year. … He’s gotten so much better. I think there’s another step he can even take.”
Maxey will be a restricted free agent this summer, but that’s just a technicality — he will count against the Sixers’ cap for just $13MM until he signs his new contract. After using up their cap room, the 76ers will be able to go over the cap to lock him up to a maximum-salary deal that projects to be worth at least $35MM in 2024/25 — or up to $42.3MM if Maxey makes an All-NBA team.
Because the Sixers didn’t win a playoff series, Paul Reed‘s $7.7MM salary for ’24/25 will remain non-guaranteed, which means the club could potentially enter free agency with only Embiid’s salary ($51.4MM) and Maxey’s $13MM cap hold counting toward team salary. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), Philadelphia could have up to $64.9MM in cap room with just those two players on the books. That number would be closer to $55MM if the 76ers retain Reed and their first-round pick.
What might the Sixers do what that cap room? Sources tell Bontemps that Jrue Holiday was a top target until he signed an extension in Boston. OG Anunoby is also on their wish list, per Bontemps, though he’s considered likely to re-sign with the Knicks. Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst identified Paul George as Philadelphia’s No. 1 priority and said he thinks the team will make George a maximum-salary offer, assuming he hasn’t re-upped with the Clippers before free agency.
If no top-tier free agents are available, Daryl Morey and the Sixers figure to turn to their trade market, since they’ll have several first-round picks available to move and won’t have to send out matching salary. Windhorst mentions Heat swingman Jimmy Butler and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram as a pair of possible trade targets for the Sixers.
On the other hand, it’s not necessarily a star-or-bust summer for Philadelphia, according to Bontemps, who says one other potential path for the club would be to pursue a series of role players who complement Embiid and Maxey, like the Nuggets have done around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. In that scenario, the Sixers could explore re-signing a few of their own free agents, such as Kelly Oubre, De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, and/or Kyle Lowry. League sources expect Tobias Harris to be playing elsewhere next season though, per Bontemps.
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- A reunion with Butler feels like a long shot, but David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that the former Sixer is exactly the kind of “alpha” the team needs to complement Embiid and Maxey. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) suggests that he can’t imagine the Heat accepting a trade package heavy on draft assets for Butler unless they planned to flip those assets for another star.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) and Mark Deeks of HoopsHype shared their Sixers offseason previews, taking a closer look at the decisions facing the franchise.
- Veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who will be an unrestricted free agent, said that he would like to return to Philadelphia, tweets Mizell. Hield scored 20 points in 21 minutes in Game 6 on Thursday but had only scored two points and had a pair of DNP-CDs in the five playoff games before that.
- Oubre also expressed interest in re-signing with the Sixers, suggesting that he feels like he has “unfinished business” after the first-round loss. “I just wanna be loved,” Oubre said of his priorities in free agency, according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “I don’t know about the business side of it. I mean, I do, but I can’t tell you what I know because I represent myself right now. At the end of the day, I wanna go somewhere where they respect and they love me. It’s been nothing but love here, of course.”
- Taking a bigger-picture view, Danny Chau of The Ringer considers what another early playoff exit means for Embiid and his legacy.
My market evaluation
OG 4year $140m
DeRozan 2year $54m
Monk 3year $75m
Oubre 2 year $25m MLE, so is Hield
Batum 1 year 8m
Lowry 1 year 8m
Highly unlikely to happen
1. trade for Ingram and Butler
76ers have nothing Pelicans and Heat want.
2. sign free agents George and OG
Clippers and Knicks have money.
The problem with the sixers isn’t cap space, it’s finding the right fit. The sixers have had talent, but just never seem to fit it together
I think the problem is health. It’s embiids team and he’s been injured at some point in the playoffs every single year.
Even if he’s not injured, he’s not able to sustain 44-45 minutes series.
This makes him limited. Even if he plays some games 40-42 minutes, he’s gassed and it’s affecting his game.
This and the injuries is the real reason he will never win a ring as the first/main star of the team, as soon as he’ll realize it – the more chances he’ll have to win a ring.
Jojo needs shooters around him. Jojo needs to get in shape. Sixers need a 3 and D . Legit point guard. In my opinion.
A 3 and d point guard? Huh?
Sixers have a new excuse every year. They had Harden last year who is exactly what they needed and it didn’t work. Why do they think getting another aging superstar when everyone is a year older will be any different?
Time to cut losses with Embiid. He is the common denominator. Emphasis on common, unfortunately.
Ok knucklehead I will interprete for you.A 3 and D and A legit point guard . No names mentioned in my comment. Get over your envy of joel mvmp. You and that ridiculous name are dismissed.
Guess batum and Tobias Harris aren’t doing it for ya? Kyle Lowry is a point guard…just sayin…lol
link to encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com
Cap Space ……… next yr. Kleenex this yr.
No tears sixers played hard and tough. Props to knicks Hart and Hartenstein. Pacers in 5.
Swinging a trade for Butler would be pretty funny. Simmons and Brown are gone so it might work out if Miami do blow it up.
PG13 would be a very bad idea for the SIXERS ……. Playoff P has long been the wrong moniker.
Derozan would be a better fit, just because he’s more durable, much better in the clutch.
A team with cap space is usually best off using it for FA signings, not tossing it into trades for stars. Teams value cap space higher when ridding themselves a bad contract, then when trading away star players. On the other hand, they need to balance that with not chasing non-max FAs price-wise, like HOU did last year. Unless a consensus max player like PG13 is there (doubtful), it might be hard to use 55 mm in cap space efficiently.
Buddy showed in game 6 that he should have played more… maybe PHI would have won the series with him as the starter SG and having Lowry come from the bench, he was pretty bad, should not have played so much.
Nurse ain’t a very good coach as shown in this series.
Embiid was outstanding despite his ailments and Nurse failed him.