August 31, 2016
On Thursday, the Sixers accompanied a couple of transactions that we knew were coming with a bit (but just a bit) of a surprise decision.
First, the two predictable moves: 1. The Sixers waived 7’2” center Tibor Pleiss, who they acquired from the Utah Jazz in exchange for Kendall Marshall and a couple of second-round picks last week. 2. They also signed 6’3” point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber, an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State.
Pleiss joins the likes of Danny Granger, Earl Clark, and Gerald Wallace, Process-era Sixers who were acquired and never stepped on the floor for the team. Farewell, sweet prince.
Hoping to become this year’s T.J. McConnell heading into training camp, Barber is a lightning quick point guard that improved individually in all three of his college seasons. He shouldered a major scoring load as a junior on an average NC State team and still managed to score with decent efficiency (.45/.36/.87). Barber proved that he can definitely fill it up against good competition:
While not completely unsurprising, the Sixers also waived Carl Landry. After rehabbing from a wrist injury at the beginning of last season, Landry played the good soldier and soaked up minutes while the team was stumbling to the finish line. In 36 games (12 starts), the 32-year-old forward averaged 10 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes per game.
But with the Sixers bringing in Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid into an already crowded frontcourt, you can see why the franchise would be proactive in trying to allow Landry to find a new landing spot.
In this last year of his contract, Landry is due $6.5 million from the Sixers in 2016-17. The move also takes the roster from the offseason limit of 20 to 19. If the team wanted to sign another player for training camp, there is now a spot available.
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