August 08, 2019
On Thursday afternoon, the Sixers announced they had come to an agreement on a deal with former St. Joe's product Isaiah Miles, a 6'7" wing who spent last season playing in France. Some fans will have questions about the deal, namely how and why they did so with a 15-man group that appears to be pretty set for the season.
Miles' deal is an Exhibit 10 contract, just like the one team handed to Florida State center Christ Koumadje earlier in the offseason. The terms for Exhibit 10 deals are pretty easy to understand — they're one-year, non-guaranteed contracts for the minimum that guarantee a player an invite to preseason training camp.
During the offseason, the NBA roster limit is raised to 20, so the Sixers can bring in some developmental players or players with a G-League focus into camp without necessarily worrying about space on the roster for them. And the G-League is where the importance of an Exhibit 10 deal really comes into play — if a player signs a G-League deal with the NBA club's affiliate after they are eventually waived by the NBA team, they receive a bonus of up to $50,000 if they remain with that affiliate for at least 60 days.
While there is another option for players on Exhibit 10 deals — signing a two-way contract with the club by the first day of the NBA's regular season — the Sixers already inked two players to two-way deals during the offseason in Norvel Pelle and Marial Shayok. As it was explained to PhillyVoice, the thought behind Miles' deal is predominantly G-League focused, and Exhibit 10 deals exist primarily to incentivize players to stay in the G-League system instead of playing abroad.
So why Miles? The Sixers obviously like him on his own merits after having him play for the team in Summer League each of the last three years. Miles was an average to an above-average shooter in college, and he has hovered around the 40 percent mark over the last two years in Europe. That much is attractive to the Sixers should he ever play his way into consideration for Philly.
Even if Miles doesn't crack the Sixers' roster, his value as an experienced shooter for Delaware would be to help provide structure around the Sixers' young players who might need more developmental time in the G-League.
In an ideal world, guys like Zhaire Smith, Matisse Thybulle, or even Shake Milton come out next season guns blazing, playing themselves into the Sixers' rotation out of the gate. But if they find themselves starved for an opportunity, getting reps in Delaware wouldn't be the worst thing. By strengthening the pool of players on the Blue Coats, the Sixers can create the best possible developmental situation for their prospects who matter most.
Ultimately, this is why the Exhibit 10 deal was added by the league to begin with. Isaiah Miles might not ever play a game for the Sixers, but the stronger the G-League gets, the more viable it becomes as a pipeline for young talent.
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