Philadelphia 76ers: Mike Scott has earned a long-term deal

After shining as the team’s best bench shooter, it would be a travesty if Mike Scott didn’t get a long-term deal with Philadelphia 76ers moving forward.

Has any mid-season acquisition captured the hearts of Philadelphia 76ers fans in quite the same way as Mike Scott?

Sure, everyone loved it when Ersan Ilyasova made his way back to Philly (just after the deadline) last season, and who could forget when the then-San Francisco Warriors traded Wilt Chamberlin back home in 1965, but Scott just feels different.

I mean fans have gotten ‘Mike Scott Hive’ tattoos for goodness sake, that’s the level of dedication for a player who’s only worn the red, white, and blue for 37 games and counting.

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But there’s a problem for the Hive-minded members of the 215; Scott’s contract expires when the 76ers’ season comes to an end.

That’s right, whether it be after another game, another series, or with a parade down Broad Street, Scott is about to hit the open market as one of the more intriguing 30-year-old swing forwards on the open market; a market that should be incredibly competitive for his services.

Elton Brand shouldn’t let that happen.

After (presumably) fighting for his services at the deadline in the team’s marquee deal with the Los Angles Clippers that also featured Boban Marjanovic, Tobias Harris, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, and everyone’s favorite former first-round steal Landry Shamet, allowing Scott to walk for nothing would be incredibly shortsighted, even if the Sixers are able to retain their current starting five.

With only one ‘natural’ max contract spot left, the 76ers will breeze past the cap if they re-sign Jimmy Butler and Harris to max contracts, and even more so if they also extend J.J. Redick. Because of this, the 76ers will only be able to sign external free agents to either veteran minimum contracts, or to their exception.

However, this issue wouldn’t necessarily apply to Scott, because he’s already with the team.

Though Scott isn’t eligible for Bird Rights, as he’s only been a member of the team for a few months, Brand could still re-sign the ex-Virginia Cavalier to a non-Bird exception, which, according to Bleacher Report, would allow the Sixers to retain his services for up to four seasons with a starting salary of up to 120 percent of the previous year’s deal.

For those keeping track at home, that means the 76ers could retain Scott for roughly $5.18 million a season (120 percent of his current $4,320,500 salary).

Furthermore, if the team does have serious competition to retain Scott, they could offer him their mid-level exception right from the jump; for a contract worth up to $8.6 million (based on 2018-19 cap figures) for up to four seasons.

Those numbers fall right in line with the market, as the Sixers’ previously mentioned flex forward Ersan Ilyasova signed a three-year, $21 million contract to join the Milwaukee Bucks.

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Is Scott a better player than Ilyasova? That’s debatable, but after watching the 6-foot-8 do-it-all-backcourtman perfectly fit into Brett Brown‘s switch happy, all-tall roster, it’s clear the Philadelphia 76ers would be foolish to allow Mike Scott to sign elsewhere come June.