It has been rare in recent years for contending teams to operate under the cap in order to pursue star free agents. In each of the four NBA offseasons prior to 2024, between four and eight teams opened up cap room, and the majority of those clubs were coming off losing seasons and weren't going after top-tier free agents.
Prior to 2024, the last time an All-NBA-caliber free agent changed teams using cap room was in 2019, when Kawhi Leonard headed to Los Angeles and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving landed in Brooklyn. Both the Clippers and Nets were coming off winning seasons and viewed their free agent additions as moves that would help push them over the top, cementing their place among the NBA's top tier.
Despite the fact that no team had replicated that free agency feat in five years, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey began heading down that path over a year ago. When word broke in June of 2023 that Philadelphia wouldn't be pursuing a rookie scale extension with rising star Tyrese Maxey, it became clear that Morey's front office was prioritizing 2024 cap flexibility in the hopes of adding another All-Star to the club's core.
Not only did the 76ers achieve that goal, but they cleverly made use of every single dollar of their cap space and their room exception to sign nine-time All-Star Paul George and three additional rotation players while preserving a possible trade chip who could help them further maximize their flexibility.
Let's take a closer look at how the Sixers have navigated the cap and made the math work so far this offseason:
The 76ers had 13 of 16 players from last season's roster become free agents on July 1, as RealGM's transaction log shows, meaning they entered the new league year with just three players under contract: star center Joel Embiid ($51,415,938), backup big man Paul Reed ($7,723,000), and 22-year-old guard Ricky Council ($1,891,857).
