Philadelphia 76ers: What To Expect From Rest Of Offseason

By George Kondoleon | Jun 26, 2016

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) and President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo (L) during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

The Philadelphia 76ers offseason will be one of the most intriguing in the organization’s history, but expectations shouldn’t be high.

The Philadelphia 76ers have checked off the boxes in the first leg of the offseason by falling to the top spot in the lottery, then selecting Ben Simmons. The focus will now be on free agency and trading shortly after the NBA’s moratorium.

The obvious issue that the Philadelphia 76ers could not resolve on draft night is trading either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor to free up minutes down low and bring in more complementing assets to the players the team hopes to build on. That will most likely be the first objective for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76ers will probably trade Jahlil Okafor, and not get maximum value in return:

Jahlil Okafor still has tons of room for development, and his upside is still promising, but the fact is the Philadelphia 76ers will have to move him if they want to build the fast-paced roster like their 2016 NBA Draft suggested. Ben Simmons, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Nerlens Noel, and Dario Saric are all players who excel in transition and are versatile enough to allow the team to move into the modern era of small ball.

More from Philadelphia 76ers

Okafor’s game simply does not fit that mold. The post-up game isn’t dead, but it is dead for the Philadelphia 76ers as they try to move forward with their roster building. This will be the demise of Okafor’s time with the Philadelphia 76ers.

That being sad, Okafor was a top-3 pick for a reason, his current offensive game foreshadows that of an elite scorer. Finding a home for Okafor may not be a problem but getting full value for him will be. The Philadelphia 76ers currently have no trade leverage because of their cluster of young big men, and the potential return for Okafor will hurt because of it.

In a trade, the team will most likely have to settle for a mid-level guard while giving up a young scorer and maybe even more in a package. Names like Marcus Smart, Darren Collison, and even Jrue Holiday could be possible targets involving some sort of deal surrounding Jahlil Okafor. Okafor leaving will allow for the Philadelphia 76ers to move forward and continue their “pace and space” roster building.

Nerlens Noel contract situation will be key going into next season, but Noel’s value for this roster is much higher than Okafor as the team stands today.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be throwing money at big names, but will most likely whiff on a lot of signees:

The Philadelphia 76ers have money to play with, unfortunately it will be hard to convince veteran free agents to buy into the rebuild movement. Kevin Durant and Mike Conley will not give the Philadelphia 76ers much attention, but mid-level guys like Harrison Barnes, Evan Fournier, or Dion Waiters will most likely get huge offers from teams like the Sixers looking to bring some spark to the franchise.

Even offering an over-valuable contracts to mid-level players doesn’t guarantee the team lands anyone. With the rising cap this offseason, around two-thirds of the league will have maximum cap space, so free agents will most likely have their handful of offers elsewhere. The Philadelphia 76ers could find themselves once again scouring near the bottom of the free agent barrel.

D.J. Augustin and Norris Cole are two guys who could come in on short-term contracts to try to prove their worth for a championship contending team.

Current players will be cut:

Isaiah Canaan, Hollis Thompson, and Kendall Marshall may find themselves without a Philadelphia 76ers jersey this offseason. Canaan is volume shooting, undersized guard that tends to take the team out of many offensive possessions. Thompson probably has a much better chance of making the team, but barely makes an impact in meaningful offensive moments. Marshall just never really was able to fit into the Philadelphia 76ers scheme.

All three guys are easily replaceable through free agent signings. T.J. McConnell is an interesting case on the other hand. McConnell is on an incredibly team-friendly contract and is able to control the offense on a 2nd or 3rd unit.

McConnell will become a mainstay on the Philadelphia 76ers for at least one more season.

The team won’t make win-now moves.

Despite the misconception that the Philadelphia 76ers are trying to make win-now moves, the team will make moves to complement Ben Simmons. Simmons career is like the team’s newborn baby, and now the team must nurture it by putting the best support it can find around him.

Win-now isn’t in the picture, but win-more is. There is some sort of psychological effect when a team wins 10-games, and the Philadelphia 76ers will do their best to nix that effect. Winning more games hasn’t been in the objective the past few seasons, but helping Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid feel confident in themselves by winning more games does have an impact.

Next: Sixers Trying To Maximize Brett Brown

The Philadelphia 76ers will have unfair expectations on them shortly after the moratorium, but the team will not make any franchise-shifting moves. The team could make incremental moves that impact the way their current prospects develop.