Summer rewind: Philadelphia 76ers
A look at the key offseason moves and changes for every team in the league. Next up are the Philadelphia 76ers.
Offseason additions
Free agents
Gerald Henderson
Sergio Rodriguez
Jerryd Bayless
Brandon Paul
Shawn Long
James Webb III
Draft
Ben Simmons
Timothe Luwawu
Furkan Korkmaz
Dario Saric
Trade
Tibor Pleiss
THE REWIND
The draft: past, present and future
With three first-round picks, including the first overall, Philadelphia entered June with plenty at stake.
Would Philadelphia stay the course with their current picks or add an additional lottery pick at the cost of a future asset?
In a top-heavy draft, Philadelphia ended up adding Ben Simmons at No. 1 and two wings, Timothe Luwawu at No. 24 and Furkan Korkmaz at No. 26. Korkmaz will spend next season playing in Europe.
Simmons will garner plenty of attention this season but two 2014 lottery picks – Dario Saric and Joel Embiid – will also be in the spotlight.
Saric is coming off a strong summer playing for the Croatian national team and could make an impact.
Embiid has franchise-level talent but has battled recurring foot problems and has not played since breaking his foot in June 2014.
If Embiid can stay healthy and Saric can adjust to the NBA, Philadelphia – with Simmons, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, along with cap flexibility and future assets – should see its slow rebuild finally take shape.
Void at the point
Philadelphia learned from last season the benefit of consistency at point guard.
With a void at the point, the 76ers struggled until Christmas with a 1-30 record and stunted the development of Noel and Okafor.
The Christmas Eve trade for Ish Smith would serve as a blueprint for Philadelphia as the 76ers improved a little and won nine games the rest of the season.
With the additions of veterans Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, the 76ers should find more consistency than last season.
Veteran presence
Philadelphia made a concerted effort this off-season to surround its young players with veterans who would provide a locker-room presence and improve the product on the court.
The additions of Bayless, Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson should provide a suitable support system.
CAP BREAKDOWN
Player 2016
1. Jerryd Bayless $9,424,084
2. Gerald Henderson $9,000,000
3. Sergio Rodriguez $8,000,000
4. Carl Landry $6,500,000
5. Ben Simmons $5,900,760
6. Joel Embiid $4,826,160
7. Jahlil Okafor $4,788,840
8. Nerlens Noel $4,384,490
9. Tibor Pleiss $3,000,000
10. Nik Stauskas $2,993,040
11. Dario Saric $2,318,280
12. Timothe Luwawu $1,326,960
13. Richaun Holmes $1,025,831
14. Hollis Thompson $1,015,696
Non-guaranteed/partial
15. Robert Covington $1,015,696
16. Jerami Grant $980,431
17. T.J. McConnell $874,636
18. Brandon Paul $543,471
19. Shawn Long $543,471
20. James Webb III $543,471
Dead money
Sasha Kaun $1,333,420
Salary table 2016
Guaranteed salaries $64,780,141
Dead money $1,333,420
Non-guaranteed $4,216,176
Tax variance $1,416,675
Free-agent cap holds $0
Incomplete roster charge $0
Salaries: cap $70,338,737
Salaries: tax $71,755,412
Salary cap $94,143,000
Luxury tax $113,287,000
Cap space $23,804,263
Tax room $41,531,588
Philadelphia entered free agency with $54 million in cap space and heads into the season with $24 million in room remaining.
Henderson, Rodriguez and Bayless signed with cap space as the 76ers retained cap flexibility moving forward.
RESTRICTIONS
Free agents signed in the offseason cannot be traded until either Dec. 15, Jan. 15 or for three months if they signed after Sept. 15.
Henderson, Rodriguez, Bayless, Brandon Paul, Shawn Long and James Webb III cannot be traded until Dec. 15.
EXTENSION CANDIDATES
Rookie
Former 2013 first-round pick Nerlens Noel is eligible to have his rookie contract extended until Oct. 31.
Although the 76ers would have cap flexibility next summer if Noel were extended this season, expect Philadelphia to leave his current $10.9 million cap and address his restricted free agency in July.
Noel, who has been the subject of trade rumors, would have less appeal to teams if he were extended before the deadline.
Veteran
Landry can have his contract extended or renegotiated, with Philadelphia able to add an additional three seasons to his current deal.
DEPTH CHART
Starter Bench Bench
PG Jerryd Bayless Sergio Rodriguez T.J. McConnell
SG Gerald Henderson Nik Stauskas/H. Thompson T. Luwawu/Brandon Paul
SF Ben Simmons Robert Covington Jerami Grant/James Webb III
PF Nerlens Noel Dario Saric Carl Landry/Shawn Long
C Jahlil Okafor Joel Embiid Tibor Pleiss/Richaun Holmes
The only NBA team with 20 players under contract, Philadelphia will have plenty of roster decisions to make.
With the addition of Tibor Pleiss on Friday, Philadelphia now has 14 guaranteed contracts and 6 players with partial/non-guaranteed deals.
SNEAK PEEK TO NEXT SUMMER
The benefit of building through the draft is having flexibility each offseason.
Cap space will be fluid based on Gerald Henderson’s contract, which isn’t guaranteed for 2017-18. Expect the 76ers to have $45 million in cap room even with Henderson on the roster.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Robert Covington
Wing Robert Covington should benefit from the additions of Simmons and Henderson.
Covington, one of the best values in the NBA, has been one of the few bright spots for Philadelphia the past two seasons.
Now with Simmons and Henderson on the roster, expect the undrafted Covington to continue to build off the past two seasons but in a different role.
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