Philly Front Office

Walker and Barlow are on 2-way contracts. There are only so many games each can be active for the Sixers and those limits are fast approaching: 2 more for Walker and 12 more for Barlow. Assuming good health for both, that means Walker should be getting a standard contract with 32 games to play in the season and 22 for Barlow. Why does that matter? Because contracts are pro-rated for tax and salary reasons for the remainder of the season. Let’s look into it.

Both Walker and Barlow are in their 4th years in the league. The minimum salary for each is around $2.46m for a full season. Walker should be getting a standard contract by this week and before the February 5th game against the Lakers. There’s a possibility he gets held out that game because it is also the trade deadline, but let’s assume that’s the first day of the rest of his Sixers career. A standard contract means Walker would make $960k for the rest of the year. Barlow should get his standard contract before the March 1 game against the Celtics. His pro-rated amount should be close to $660k.

Why do you care about this? Because the Sixers will likely try to duck the tax this year like they always do. The time to do that is at the upcoming trade deadline. They are about $1.2m over right now but need to factor in that $1.62m coming to our two 2-ways. I know this is stupid, but you better believe Daryl Morey will be fully aware of these numbers come Thursday.

Just when you thought things were going well for the Sixers (including the Epstein related hopes that Josh Harris would have to sell the team), Paul George gets hit with a 25-game suspension for violating the NBAs anti-drug program. He claims it is a mistake in medication, but it does coincide with his great performance as of late. The Sixers have played 47 games so far, so he will return with 10 games to go, March 25th against the Bulls.

This is not all bad news! When you are suspended, you don’t get paid. Bobby Marks pointed out that the Sixers will receive a near $6m tax credit for the suspension. Considering the Sixers are about $7m over the luxury tax, this actually helps the team with the trade deadline looming and a slime ball owner who would like to save a few bucks. This means a trade of Andre Drummond is more likely than a trade of actually productive Kelly Oubre. For anyone hoping to trade him as part of a bigger deal or just getting off his salary, that idea is nuked. Stay tuned…

[UPDATE: Josh Harris’s involvement with Epstein includes having breakfast with him along with frequent dabbler Bill Gates. What this means is up for interpretation but Epstein sure as hell makes it sound incriminating. Epstein was previously in contact with Apollo Global and Harris’s former partner Leon Black in possibly nefarious ways, but Harris forced Black out after learning of this. Look at the synopsis below and see for yourself. I don’t know if this will lead to a serious movement to sell the team, but I wouldn’t be against it. Front Office Sports Story.]

The DOJ released 3 million Epstein documents today and Sixers owner Josh Harris has been named. Later in the day, Harris released a statement saying that he had legitimate business dealings with Epstein as the head of Apollo Global Management. While that’s certainly possible, any contact at all with Epstein isn’t good.

The problem is that I have not been able to actually see how his name is mentioned. Everyone reporting on the topic keeps it short and is conveniently only saying that he’s in there. It’s easy to say one thing and have everyone infer something else and run with it. It could be that he is one of the worst people on Earth while it could just as easily be that he is worst human on Earth adjacent. I’m not a fan of Josh Harris, or any billionaires who haven’t won me a championship, but the distinction between being mentioned in something unrelated and being a participant is huge. It’s the difference between him selling the team and just being the slimy, awkward, owner he already is. We really need to know what is going on.

Harris doesn’t just own the Sixers, but the New Jersey Devils and Washington Commanders as well. NY Giants owner Steve Tisch has also been named, but in much more detail. Next week, I will be going over how this could play out with their team ownership. If you see anything that sheds more light on this story, please let me know. I’ll be looking for more info over the weekend.

This in itself is not big news unless you are one of us who thinks we should have never let the former Sixers 2nd round pick go in the first place. The bigger news is that the Sixers have filled their 15th roster spot for the first time this year. Why is that important? Because rules affecting 2-way players only allow so many NBA games while below the 15-man roster threshold. The Sixers hit that number against the Knicks on Saturday. Without this move, Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow would not have been allowed to play tonight (or until the roster slot was filled).

Why hasn’t the roster spot been filled all year? Money. Even with a veteran minimum deal, the Sixers would need to pay for the roster spot. They are currently over the tax and right up near the 1st Apron. By signing a player to a 10-day deal instead, they avoid paying a larger salary and keep the spot relatively open for the coming trade deadline, Feb 5. The team might need to make a lopsided trade and would hate to simply cut (and pay) a player to make it happen.

As for why they don’t simply sign Barlow or Walker to a contract, well, it is essentially for the same reason. Literally every day a player is on a roster on a real contract, they are making money that will count toward the luxury tax. The same cannot be said for 2-ways. Both will likely be signed to NBA deals in the near future. As for their remaining games now, Walker has 5 games left while Barlow has 15.

If you want a more detailed look at this situation every day, follow Sixers Adam where you can.

Hunter Sallis was active tonight, but it was his last hurrah as a Sixer. He was released following tonight’s loss to the Nets. While the other two-way guys, Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow have been starting for the Sixers, Sallis has only seen action in 6 games totalling 25 minutes. In a guard heavy rotation, the 6’4″ Sallis couldn’t get any run.

In comes Beauchamp, the 6’7 small forward who fell off after looking like a keeper for 2 years with the Bucks. The former first round pick out of G League Ignite is only 25. He is known to be athletic with a huge wingspan and high energy making him a competent NBA defender. His shooting isn’t great even if he is a career 35% 3 point shooter on low volume.

With Kelly Oubre still sidelined (and likely to be moved at the deadline) and Paul George regularly in and out of the lineup, Beauchamp could find himself with a roll on the team.

I started with the Phillies News and Rumors page for the offseason and it has gone pretty well. I want these to be easily accessible and updateable spots for talking about more minor transactions and newsworthy rumors when a full article would either be premature or simply make the homepage more crowded. Going live for the Eagles and Flyers too.