August 21, 2024
Now that we appear to know exactly what the Sixers' roster will look like when training camp kicks off on Oct. 1, let's answer some of your questions in a weekly mailbag.
From @Josh_Rice438: What do you think is the most sneaky important or slept on move made this offseason?
I'll give you two -- both a positive development and a negative one -- because there is so much to talk about.
Losing Nic Batum has the chance to be considerably more harmful for the Sixers than many realize. Many will look at his 5.5 points per game with the Sixers last season and scoff at the notion that his departure is anything more than a minor deal, but his impact on winning was tremendous after arriving in Philadelphia -- and he would be an absolute perfect fit with the Sixers' current roster that now includes his former teammate, Paul George.
Think about everything Batum could bring to this iteration of the Sixers that they need: viable defense at power forward (as well as at least three other positions) and excellent passing to stand out. His masterful three-point release and accuracy would also enhance their team quite a bit.
From a salary cap perspective, though, bringing back Batum -- if the veteran had any interest in returning to the Sixers at a similar price to the deal he agreed on to head back to the Los Angeles Clippers -- would have necessitated the team either not having a viable backup center or missing out on the chance to add Caleb Martin.
Their paths to re-signing Batum while also retaining Kelly Oubre Jr. made it difficult to assemble a well-rounded roster. They could have signed Batum instead of Andre Drummond, but then waiving Paul Reed to free up the necessary cap space to sign Martin would have left the team with only rookie Adem Bona at backup center and no resources to add any stable options there above the veteran's minimum salary.
On a more optimistic note, perhaps the aspect of the Sixers' successful offseason that has gone under the radar most is that they did not have to touch their future draft picks to assemble their roster -- they did not just add a third All-Star-caliber player when they signed George; they did so without giving up anything other than future dollars.
While the Sixers owe their 2025 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder (Al Horford trade) and their 2027 first-round pick belongs to the Brooklyn Nets (James Harden acquisition), they restocked their future picks when they traded Harden to the Clippers. The Sixers received two first-rounders back for Harden -- one of them being an unprotected Clippers first-rounder in 2028 that has become the crown jewel of their collection of assets -- and a top-3 protected pick swap in 2029.
The obvious angle here is that the Sixers have maintained the necessary ammunition to upgrade their roster in future trades -- and that is certainly true. But on top of that, should perfect opportunities to add via trade not materialize, the Sixers can simply keep these picks and use them to add extra doses of young talent to their roster. As George and Joel Embiid age and a new salary cap environment encourages finding cost-effective contributors as frequently as possible, the Sixers actually hanging onto most of those picks should be considered a real possibility.
From @alexdickinsons: Any chance Ricky Council IV or Guerschon Yabusele ends up starting and pushing Kelly Oubre Jr. to the sixth man role?
I think there is a world where Oubre is eventually moved to the bench and used in a role that features more scoring duties, potentially allowing Martin to slide down to his natural position at small forward. But for that to happen, I believe it would be if the Sixers acquire a power forward via trade who can slot into the starting lineup with ease.
Council IV and Yabusele each have a real chance to impact winning in 2024-25, but I do not view either of them as realistic options to start on a consistent basis at any point. It seems like an overestimation of their abilities to put either one in such a spot this season (which, of course, does not mean they cannot contribute in smaller roles).
While we're here, I do think that Martin's ability to guard up and play the four has become underrated. While it is not his natural spot, I believe he will prove to be more than capable of logging plenty of minutes at that spot thanks to his length and physicality. On top of that, George does stand at 6-foot-8, and while the team will try to preserve the nine-time All-Star's energy by avoiding putting him in bruising matchups, he is capable of spending stretches of games defending certain power forwards.
From @spelledwithaZ: If the Sixers were using the 15th spot on the roster, who's the ideal minimum guy to sign?
To be clear, I do not expect the Sixers to have each one of their 15 standard NBA roster spots filled for a while -- possibly not until after the trade deadline in February. But, if they were to add another piece to this group before training camp, I believe adding a center capable of playing spot minutes would be worth a look.
Of course, the Sixers hope Embiid will play more than the 39 regular season games that he logged last season, but it seems like a foregone conclusion at this point that he will miss some time. That means the Sixers need multiple viable centers behind him, and right now their depth of true fives is made up of Drummond and Bona.
Bona has some exciting -- even tantalizing -- skills and tools heading into his rookie season, but how he fits into an NBA rotation right off the bat is questionable, to say the least. Bona can set screens and roll to the rim, but is a non-shooter without any discernible skills on offense. He is an excellent weak-side shot-blocker with an outrageous motor that never stops, but will be as foul-happy a player as anybody in the NBA next season should he receive playing time on a remotely consistent basis.
Free agency began more than seven weeks ago, so it is not as if the current market is flooded with quality options -- a couple of veteran bigs still out there are Bismack Biyombo and Damian Jones; the lack of enticing options still on the market could reinforce the Sixers' apparent strategy to leave that last spot open heading into the season.
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