We are approaching an annual rite of passage: The Philadelphia 76ers’ ritual midseason salary dump. Just $7 million separate the team from skirting the tax. If they don’t trim that much from the bottom line by offloading Kelly Oubre Jr. or Andre Drummond-plus-Mystery-Salary-X, count me shocked.
Previous iterations of the Sixers’ big board had them chasing pricier targets. This one operates under the assumption they will conveniently slither beneath the tax while trying to limit the damage to their underlying on-court production.
Keon Ellis is on the books for $2.3 million, hits threes, can defend, and most importantly of all, plays for a team physically incapable of winning trades. In a perfect world, he’d be a few inches taller. But having him, VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes gives Philly a who’s who of not-huge-guards who can try pestering properly sized wings.
Searching for a big rings slightly hollow when the Sixers have Drummond, Joel Embiid, Adem Bona and even Dominick Barlow. Jay Huff is cheap enough ($2.3 million) for Philly to sniff around his floor-spacing-rim-protector outlines. Especially if Drummond becomes tax-ducking collateral damage.
Tari Eason remains an agent of defensive chaos when healthy. He is pure anarchy when his threes are falling. Philly should not go all-out to get him, but injuries, next summer’s foray into restricted free agency and the Houston Rockets’ proximity to ducking the tax could pave the way for a more reasonable price tag if a third (and potentially fourth) team gets involved.