Philly Front Office

I think we are all ready to move on from the 2025-26 Sixers at this point. Granted, there’s a good chance that next year will be more of the same, but still. We need something to get our minds off the mess that is the 3rd quarter of this season. Let’s see what we are working with…

Roster (click to expand)

• LOCKS
  • Joel Embiid
    • $58m salary
    • 3 years remaining
  • Paul George
    • $54m salary
    • 2 years remaining
    • Just when it looked like he might be regaining some value to either be useful to the Sixers or at least not a set of cement boots to float in for trades, he got himself suspended and destroyed his good will. Nothing short of a great playoffs can save this disaster
  • Tyrese Maxey
    • $41m salary
    • 3 years remaining
  • VJ Edgecombe
    • $11.5m salary
    • 4 years remaining
  • Johni Broome
    • $2.1m salary
    • 3 years remaining
    • Dead weight. His salary is guaranteed this season but not for the next two.
• SECURED LIKE BREAD PACKAGING
  • Dominick Barlow
    • $3.4m salary non-guaranteed team option
  • Trendon Watford
    • $2.8m salary non-guaranteed team option
  • Justin Edwards
    • $2.4m guaranteed but easily movable
  • Adem Bona
    • $2.3m non-guaranteed
  • #23 Pick
    • $2.9m but always the possibility of a trade
• FREE AGENTS
  • Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond, Kyle Lowry, Jabari Walker, Cameron Payne

Budget (click to expand)

• NBA NUMBERS (estimates)
  • Salary Cap – $166m
  • Tax Line – $201.7m
    • We all know that this is the only number the Sixers care about
  • 1st Apron – $210.3m
  • 2nd Apron – $223.1m
  • Empty Roster Spot (must have 12) – $1.4m
  • Non-Taxpayer MLE – $15.1m
  • Tax-Payer MLE – $6.1m
• SIXERS
  • Locks: $166.9m
  • Locks + Bread Packaging: $180.7m

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, what are we looking at? The Sixers have two free agents that they will consider re-signing in Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes. We also need a backup center for Embiid off days, a backup PG, wing defenders, and shooting. To make this happen, we have around $30m to use (but not simply spend) and a decent amount of draft picks.

The Sixers Will Be Re-Evaluated in 1 Month

Free Agents

Let’s start with our own free agents. Oubre and Grimes should have a market right around the MLE of $15m. Neither had great seasons, so even that might be a little much. The Sixers own the Bird Rights to both which just means they can go over the cap to get them and offer them any contract size they want for the most part. They will be hitting the market though. While both are solid NBA players, I can’t imagine we keep both, at least not on multi-year deals.

Depending on what happens with Oubre and Grimes, the Sixers may have the $15m MLE to spend themselves. Who is there to spend it on? Ummm… I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the pickins are slim. Here are the best available free agents in that price range

• Anfernee Simons – SG
  • Simons scored a $100m contract from Portland, but needs to level down his expectations this time around. He can shoot and get to the rim, but defense is not his strong suit at 6’3″ and 200 pounds. He’s a 6th man whether he knows it or not.
• Collin Sexton – PG
  • I think I have always liked the idea of Sexton more than his actual play. He can shoot and plays hard, but that doesn’t really translate to much in terms of productivity. He would bring a different element to the bench.
• Keon Ellis – SF
  • Ellis is an analytics darling who does not fill up the stat sheet but does everything you could ask for as a 3 and D guy. He is going to have a robust market from smart teams.
• CJ McCollum – SG
  • He’ll be 34 next season but he is still getting buckets at around 19 points per game. If he is willing to take a discount, he’d be a great addition. If not, the Sixers should not be looking to spend their money on getting older.
• Ayo Dosunmu – SG
  • Dosunmu leveled up his shooting this season, but does not let it fly enough. If Grimes leaves, he would be a solid fit.
• John Collins – PF
  • Despite being a power forward, Collins doesn’t rebound well or play defense. He has become a reliable 3-point shooter though which could actually fit the Sixers needs. He is just so unlikeable though. Is that just me?

That is not a very exciting list. Dreams of adding some kind of huge improvement in free agency are not realistic.

20 Years of the Worst Contracts in Philadelphia

Trades

Well, how about a trade? The Sixers have some draft assets:

• 2026 Houston 1st
• 2027 Sixers 1st (assuming our original 2026 conveys to OKC)
• 2028 Clippers 1st
• 2029 Clippers/Sixers 1st (most favorable)
• 2030 Sixers 1st
• 2031 Sixers 1st
• 2032 Sixers 1st
• 12ish 2nd round picks

The most 1sts they can send out in any trade is 4. That would be enough to go big game hunting. The problem would be salary matching. The team is without mid-range contracts to put in deals, so unless a sign-and-trade happens or a team is willing to take Paul George, the options will be limited.

• Trey Murphy – Pelicans
  • Murphy would be the perfect SF for this team. To get him would be tricky though because it would involve swapping Paul George for Jordan Poole with picks obviously going to the Pelicans.
• Herb Jones – Pelicans
  • The defensive version of Murphy would require more creativity despite a smaller contract. The Sixers simply do not have any way of matching a $15m contract unless New Orleans wants Kelly Oubre or Quentin Grimes.
• Anthony Black – Magic
  • Black can do a little of everything. He is extension eligible this season but the Magic are quickly approaching max contract capacity. He is still on the cheap though, so they might want to hold on to him because he simply makes the team better.
• Tari Eason – Rockets
  • Eason could not come to an agreement on an extension with Houston last year and he will be a restricted FA this year. He would level up the PF position big time, but will need an extension. How big that extension will be could be the deciding factor on bringing him in.
• Kawhi Leonard – Clippers
  • Leonard is still one of the best players in the world when he is healthy and apparently the Sixers tried to get him at the deadline. There is a possibility that his contract gets terminated at the end of the season due to the Aspiration scandal, but I doubt it. Any deal for him would need to include Paul George which isn’t easy.

#SellTheTeam?

Outlook

It is really tough to get excited for the Sixers with Paul George hanging over us like a less available Tobias Harris for 2 more years. It would be therapeutic to get rid of him at this point, but I would rather get a bad contract back than pay someone to get rid of him. Afterall, that’s why we don’t have our own 1st round pick this season, Al Horford’s misguided free agent contract.

We all know that the Sixers have no interest in going over the tax line. Granted, they may exceed it to start the season, but any moves made will need to come with an escape option that will allow us to duck the tax at the deadline. It is just our reality.

I hate to say what we all know, but we are in for several more years of mediocrity here. There is no easy way to get around the paywall that is Paul George and Joel Embiid. They take up 2/3s of the salary cap and are always a bad bet to be in the lineup. It is not going to get better as they both move further into their 30s. Damn.

Contracts: Spotrac

Statistics: Basketball Reference