The Philadelphia 76ers are officially open for buyout business

The Philadelphia 76ers got lucky at the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking, “How can that be the case? The Sixers left a ton of legit difference-makers like Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell on the table and were only able to land an injured 34-year-old who may not play for the rest of the regular season.”

If that’s your take, I get it, I really do, but theoretically, the Sixers shouldn’t have been able to land George Hill at the trade deadline, not under the NBA’s current rules anyway.

The Philadelphia 76ers’ roster isn’t complete after all.

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You see, because the Sixers initially acquired Terrance Ferguson and Vincent Poirier from the Thunder during the 2020-21 NBA calendar year, the team technically couldn’t reacquire them during the same season. If the Sixers were under the cap or wanted to burrow into their trade exceptions, that wouldn’t have been an issue, but because the team is well over the cap and Daryl Morey presumably want to keep his big exception for an offseason move, the team had to pony up roughly equal cash to absorb Hill’s $9.59 million cap hit.

Fortunately for Philly, the New York Knicks swooped in and took on both Ferguson and Poirier in exchange for the Thunder acquiring Austin Rivers and the Sixers taking back a second-year forward by the name of Ignas Brazdeikis.

Sidebar: How uncomfortable must it have been at the Rivers Family Easter table when Doc could have surely re-acquired his son only to let him land in OKC where a buyout wasn’t guaranteed? Yikes.

The Sixers were left with a single roster spot following the trade, which normally would be utilized by a top-tier team on a big name on the buyout market – see Nets, Brooklyn – but Morey opted to take things a different route and instead signed G-League MVP Paul Reed to a three-year contract.

Welp, that’s that, right? Reed would step in as the stretch four/small-ball five that the Sixers have been needing all season long, and the Sixers would reformat their rotation as a result.

Yeah, not so much.

You see, Morey and Rivers seemingly have very different opinions on Reed’s immediate potential (more on that here), leaving the Sixers forced to rely on Dwight Howard as Joel Embiid’s primary backup with Mike Scott moonlighting as a small-ball center in Ben Simmons-centric lineups.

Except maybe that isn’t the end of the story. No, after watching players like Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Andre Drummond come off the board, the Sixers have decided to waive Brazdeikis in order to sign… someone before the April 9th deadline to add playoff-eligible players, a move that could hotshot the team’s bench units and sharpen Philly’s edge come playoff time.

But who could it be? Justin Jackson was just waived by the Thunder to make way for Justin Robinson on a 10-day contract. While JJ isn’t particularly well known for his knockdown 3 point shot, he’s a willing shooter, a decent enough switch defender, and could conceivably play a similar role to his fellow former UNC Tarheel Cam Johnson coming off the bench.

Or what about Doc Rivers’ former ward Mfiondu Kabengele (more on him here), who was traded to the Kings but ultimately waived to free up a roster spot for departing Raptor Terrance Davis? Could the Sixers try to revitalize former second overall pick Jabari Parker‘s career after watching the former Buck/Bull/Wizard/Hawk waste away on the Kings’ bench for no reason in particular?

Could this be the Sixers’ opportunity to finally bring back Justin Anderson after waiving Embiid’s best buddy just before the start of the regular season?

The Philadelphia 76ers stole Matisse Thybulle from the Boston Celtics. dark. Next

Needless to say, the Philadelphia 76ers are open for business, and I, for one, am all about it.