Philadelphia 76ers: Buyout market playoff reinforcements aren’t coming

Blake Griffin. Andre Drummond. LaMarcus Aldridge. What do these names all have in common?

Well, outside of being former All-Stars – with 15 total trips between the trio – all three were bought out of their contracts and landed on championship contenders via the ever-contentious buyout market.

Now for some teams, specifically ones located in smaller markets, the idea of clubs outside of playoff contention prematurely releasing some of their lame-duck vets into the open market to latch on with a contender usually located in a big market is incredibly unfair, as evidenced by increasing calls to change how the system is run by some currently anonymous execs, but you know what they say, you have to play the game by the rules, and right now, the best way to get something for nothing in the NBA is to hope an intriguing option agrees to a buyout and a needy team can sway his services due to championship viability, or an above-market value rest-of-season contract.

Because when it’s done correctly, buyouts can seriously improve a team’s standings heading into the playoffs.

Need proof? Well, look no further than the 2018-19 iteration of your friendly neighborhood Philadelphia 76ers, who seriously improved their roster with buyout additions Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, riding that duo all the way to their first of two consecutive Eastern Conference semi-finals exits.

But unfortunately, the new and improved Philadelphia 76ers will not be so lucky, as they missed the deadline to add a buyout player who is eligible to play in the playoffs on April 9th, leaving George Hill as the only midseason reinforcements waiting just over the horizon.

The Philadelphia 76ers are all they’ve got but not all they need.

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Though far from the ideal scenario for some fans eager to land a fourth star, the Philadelphia 76ers’ decision to leave the 2021 NBA trade deadline with George Hill and Ignas Brazdeikis looked pretty good on paper, especially when you consider the club didn’t have to surrender a single rotational player to get the deal done – no offense to Mr. March himself, Tony Bradley.

Had the Sixers not expanded the deal out to three teams, roping in the Knicks at the last second, the deal would have been inexecutable by the NBA’s current rules, as two of the players involved in the transactions, Terrance Ferguson and Vincent Poirier, were already members of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2020-21 season and thus couldn’t be reacquired.

Had New York not been looking to get off of Austin Rivers’ contract – a fact that surely must have been awkward, considering his father’s club was also involved in the transaction- the Sixers may have had to turn elsewhere to improve their fortunes on the most wonderful day of the (NBA) calendar year, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

No, as one of the few teams left in the league with legitimate cap space, the Knicks were preparing themselves to make a run at buyout candidate Andre Drummond, who ultimately spurned the team to instead sign with the Lakers – you know, one of those big market championship contenders that cheeses off the small market organizations ever so much.

While it was hard to see how Brazdeikis fit into the Sixers’ plans moving forward, as the squad initially opted to keep him around over waiving him outright to sign a bought-out player like Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Gorgui Dieng, that would ultimately prove short-lived, as Daryl Morey ultimately opted to waive the 6-foot-6 small forward after making a lone appearance in a red, white, blue, and occasionally black jersey, presumably to make one final run at landing a 3 point shooting big man to help better space the field around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid come playoff time.

Nope; didn’t happen.

No, after watching the Sixers drop a stinker to the New Orleans Pelicans, fans turned their eyes to Twitter, waiting for the Woj Bomb explaining the fate of the Sixers’ fifth roster spot; a Woj Bomb that never came.

So what gives? I know Kelly Olynyk, arguably the perfect player for the Sixers’ needs, Otto Porter, and Mike Muscala ultimately failed to agree to a buyout with their current teams, but the market was not totally bereft of talent, even if no one available really fit the team’s needs particularly well.

Is a player like Jabari Parker, Mfiondu Kabengele, or Darius Miller likely to unseat Dwight Howard and/or Mike Scott for playoff minutes? No, probably not. But riddle me this, what if one of those players gets hurt? What if Embiid suffers another broken orbital bone, or dislocated finger, or bruised knee and can’t go for a two-game stretch in the second round of the playoffs? Are the Sixers going to give 50-plus minutes to the not-quite dynamic duo of Howard and Scott? Or what about if either of those players gets injured? The Sixers don’t exactly have a roster loaded up with ball-handling closers to finish out a game if Simmons has to spend more of his time playing in the paint.

Heck, I’d even have happily settled for Doc’s son, as he could at the very least serve as George Hill insurance and at best push the team’s current crop of guards for playing time. Literally, anyone is better than wasting a roster spot on a player who can’t play in the playoffs if disaster struck.

Next. If only the Houston Rockets would buyout Kelly Olynyk. dark

*sigh* I guess it is what it is. The Philadelphia 76ers may ultimately still sign a youngster for a mid-season tryout, or opt to give Rayjon Tucker a full-on NBA contract a la Paul Reed back in March, but by opting to avoid signing another player – specifically one who can play in the paint – Daryl Morey and company effectively took one card out of their deck knowing full well that their starting center will miss games from time to time at the least opportune times. Between you and me, I just don’t get it.

UPDATE: The Philadelphia 76ers have signed 35-year-old Anthony Tolliver to a 10 day contract. Because he was signed after April 9th he is not eligible for the playoffs should his contract be converted.