As we start the week, five notes on some Sixers (and Sixers-adjacent) happenings across the league...
Mike Muscala retires
Mike Muscala -- an 11-year NBA veteran who made a living as a stretch big, including a 47-game cameo with the Sixers during the 2018-19 regular season -- has retired, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman.
Muscala has become a cult hero in Philadelphia, and it has nothing to do with his brief, underwhelming Sixers tenure.
Muscala spent the 2019-20 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and during the final game of that year's regular season -- a game played in "The Bubble" -- he knocked down consecutive threes to win a game over the Miami Heat that had no meaning whatsoever for the Thunder. The game was franchise-altering the Sixers.
The Thunder owed the Sixers their first-round pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, but only if the pick landed outside of the first 20 selections. The impact that final game had on the standings was massive, moving Oklahoma City's pick from No. 20 -- which would have enabled the Thunder to hang onto the pick and send the Sixers two future second-round picks instead -- down to No. 21, which gave the Sixers a first-round pick (they had traded their own first-round pick in that season as part of a package that included Muscala and landed the Sixers Tobias Harris).
With the No. 21 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Sixers selected... Tyrese Maxey. All because of two threes by Muscala.
The string of trades involving this pick is truly unbelievable: the Thunder traded it to the Sixers in 2016 in the deal that sent Jerami Grant to Oklahoma City and Ersan Ilyasova to Philadelphia. The Sixers traded it to Orlando during the 2017 NBA Draft in order to select Anžejs Pasečņiks, and then at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, Orlando sent it back to the Sixers in the Markelle Fultz trade. Perhaps the wildest ride of any draft pick that has been moved on multiple occasions.
The Sixers posted a thank you for Muscala on Sunday night:
Sixers NBA Cup group-mates revealed
The NBA revealed the groups in each conference for the 2024-25 NBA Cup -- formerly known as the In-Season Tournament -- which were drawn at random. All in all, the Sixers got a decent draw in Eastern Conference Group A:
The Knicks will clearly be their biggest competition to emerge out of the group, though the Orlando Magic figure to take another step forward in 2024-25.
In Group Play, the Sixers will host games against New York and Brooklyn, while playing on the road against Orlando and Charlotte.
Why was KJ Martin's balloon deal only worth $8 million per year?
The Sixers inked young wing KJ Martin to a two-year, $16 million contract on Friday evening, giving him the "balloon deal" that I suggested in June. The purpose of the deal: using Martin's inflated salary to facilitate a midseason trade.
- SIXERS FREE AGENCY
- Kelly Oubre Jr. returns to Sixers after 'falling in love with basketball' in Philadelphia
- 'We're putting a great team together': Caleb Martin joins Sixers in pursuit of a championship
- Andre Drummond excited for Sixers return thanks to Joel Embiid recruitment
Once people grasped this concept, the question turned from "why did the Sixers give him that much money?" to "why did the Sixers not give him more money?"
Technically, the Sixers could give Martin all the way up to a max contract. But anything in the range of $20 million or so would have made them a second apron team.
Why not go closer to $15 million? While the plan is surely to move Martin for a quality contributor in the winter, it is never a guarantee that a deal will get done. If they gave Martin a gargantuan amount of money and could not find a deal, they would suffer greatly from a luxury tax perspective.
An important note about luxury tax payments: when a team pays the tax multiple years in a row, they become "repeater" teams whose tax bills grow every year. With the Sixers likely nearing a future as a tax team, delaying the start of that repeater clock could be advantageous.
Zhaire Smith with the poster of the summer
Unfortunately, Zhaire Smith will always be remembered in Philadelphia for not being Mikal Bridges. The Sixers traded the draft rights to Bridges for the No. 16 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft -- which they used on Smith -- and a future first-round pick. Smith only played 143 minutes for the Sixers in his first two NBA seasons before being traded to the Detroit Pistons, who eventually waived him. Smith has not played in the NBA since.
Smith has been part of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization in recent seasons, spending plenty of time with their G League affiliate. He is a member of their Summer League team this month, and on Sunday threw down this massive dunk:
Can Smith work his way back onto an NBA roster? Time will tell, but he clearly has the requisite athleticism to get it done.
Jaden Springer shows out in first Summer League game
The Sixers traded Springer -- the No. 28 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft -- to the Boston Celtics at last year's trade deadline, receiving a second-round pick in return. The Sixers ended up with the No. 41 pick, and used it to select UCLA center Adem Bona.
In his first Summer League game as a member of the Celtics, Springer had a very strong showing:
Springer remains a long-term project of sorts, but his jaw-dropping athleticism and impressive defensive chops make him an intriguing prospect, even with three years of development already having taken place. His ability to carve out any sort of role as an offensive player will determine whether or not he can become an NBA regular.
Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
Follow PhillyVoice: @thephillyvoice