Philadelphia 76ers: Jared Dudley should be a 2019 free agency target

While Jared Dudley may be public enemy number one for the Philadelphia 76ers, the team should strongly consider targeting him in free agency this summer.

Before about a week ago, Jared Dudley‘s name was seldom mentioned by even the most hardened NBA fan; he was a deep bench reserve on a team expected to miss the playoffs, at least until they found a way to pull off a 42-40 season and earn the sixth seed in the 2019 NBA playoffs.

However, by constantly antagonizing Ben Simmons for his half court averageness, the 6-foot-7, 12th-year veteran forward has become public enemy number one for fans of the Philadelphia 76ers.

But hey, if you can’t beat them, why not join them?

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That’s right, even though Dudley is hardly a starting-caliber player or even a plus reserve at this point in his career, I’m suggesting that the Sixers should pursue the former Boston College forward and offer him a veteran minimum deal in free agency come July.

“But why?”

Well, I’m glad you asked.

Sure, Dudley hasn’t been a particularly useful NBA player in quite some time, partially because he was riding the bench with youth-focused Phoenix Suns from 2016-18, and partially because he’s 33-year-old averaging 4.9 points in 20.7 minutes of action a night, but he does provide something that the 76ers’ roster desperately needs in the worst way: an enforcer.

Yes, the team does have a few players who talk a big game and can back it up in Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler, but typically you don’t want your star players to be your enforcer, as the whole job of an enforcer is to get under people’s skin and foul out opposing team’s best players.

While I for one love it when Embiid leaves it all on the court and elbows a player like Jarrett Allen in the paint, no responsible head coach wants to see their best player racking up technicals and potentially getting suspended during an important playoff game.

That is not a lesson Embiid should be learning from Kevin Durant.

No, what the Sixers need a player, specifically a veteran, who can come into games, play his role, and mentally brutalize opposing players in the same way that Embiid physically brutalizes opposing centers in the paint: An enforcer.

The 76ers roster is filled with oodles of talented player, players who are much more physically gifted than a 33-year-old Jared Dudley, but there’s value in what the combo forward brings to the table.

Now I know what you’re (also probably) thinking, it might be a bad look add a player like to add a player like Dudley who’s publicly antagonized one of the team’s star players, but Elton Brand saw no issue with pursuing Mike Muscala last summer, and he had some not very nice things to say about Embiid’s trash talking the previous season.

The NBA is a business, and most players get that.

While I do believe that Dudley believes everything he’s said about Simmons’ averageness in the paint, I think he’s saying it more so to get into the 22-year-old’s head, not because he’s a jealous over-the-hill role player.

Next. Ben Simmons finds redemption in triple-double win. dark

After spending years (literally) giving roster spots to good locker room guys who do more for the team off the court than on it, like Amir Johnson, Greg Monroe, and even Elton Brand himself, the team’s player-turned-GM could view Jared Dudley as a seriously valuable piece who could help the Philadelphia 76ers bully their way through a few tough games, while also providing a little bit of production from the 3 point line. That, my friends, is worth a veteran minimum contract come July.