Philadelphia 76ers: Keep an eye on Gary Harris and Robin Lopez

In 2018, the Philadelphia 76ers made waves in the buyout market by signing not one but two members of the Atlanta Hawks.

The team was surprisingly good, the bench was underwhelming, and without surrendering a single draft pick, the Sixers were able to load up on a pair of professionals in Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli to elevate their talent level up a notch.

But since then, the Sixers haven’t been quite as lucky.

Since 2018, Philadelphia hasn’t landed a single player who was bought out of their contract, with all of their midseason additions either coming via trade or by signing players who weren’t signed elsewhere. Okay, I guess Greg Monroe was technically signed with the Toronto Raptors on a 10-day contract before making his way to Philadelphia in 2018, but that turned out so poorly that we probably should relive the bad memories.

With James Harden and Joel Embiid forming the premier tag team in the Eastern Conference – don’t @ me – and a roster spot open for a midseason addition, the Sixers look primed to sign another viable contributor, hopefully one who can either shoot from 3, be a playmaker from the point, or run the rim as a second-unit center.

Of the options currently on the market, Danuel House is probably the easiest addition, as he’s available and could be signed to a 10-day contract (more on that here), but if the Orlando Magic want to embrace youth over experience, they have not one but two intriguing players who could fill out the Philadelphia 76ers’ bench like Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli before them.

The Philadelphia 76ers could recapture that 2018 buyout Magic.

Gary Harris and Robin Lopez took very different paths to the Orlando Magic.

For Harris, his time in the Magic Kingdom began at the trade deadline one year ago, when he was moved alongside R.J. Hampton and a 2025 first-round pick in a deal for former franchise forward Aaron Gordon. Despite being a fixture of the Denver Nuggets for years, the 2014 first-round pick out of Michigan State was dubbed expendable in the pursuit of a high-flying 3-and-D forward and was shipped East in the middle of a down season to play out the final two years of the four-year, $84 million contract he signed in 2017.

And as for Lopez? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if he simply chose to relocate to Orlando so he could be closer to the Happiest Place on Earth.

As you may or may not know, Robin and his brother Brook are massive Disney fans. They own a house on Disney property, frequent the parks as any multi-millionaire Micky-holic would, and the latter even has the nickname Splash Mountain for his ability to drain 3s as a 7-footer. After playing with his brother in 2019-20, and taking his talents to Beltway last summer, maybe Robin felt that a season away in sunny Orlando would serve as a relaxing experience 14 years into his NBA career.

For a team like the Philadelphia 76ers, who need both a 3-and-D guard capable of slowing down Kyrie Irving when Matisse Thybulle has Kevin Durant and a backup center to soak up big minutes in games sans Joel Embiid, both players present interesting upsides, with Harris specifically looking like a seamless fit into the offense.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Harris is in the middle of a bounceback season in Orange County. He’s scoring 11.7 points in 29.5 minutes a night and has elevated his 3 point shooting percentage to a very nice 38.8 percent on 4.9 attempts, which are his best marks since all the way back in 2018. Though his advanced analytics numbers aren’t fantastic, he’s playing on one of the worst teams in the NBA and may benefit from a more supplemental role on a better team.

And as for Lopez? Well, he’s a minutes eater at the five who is a ton of fun to watch both in games and when interacting with mascots the association over. Sure, Lopez likely couldn’t play alongside Embiid for more than the occasional tip-on drill and is a weirdly ineffective rebounder for his size, but he’s a pretty good pick-and-roll man and could help to unlock James Harden’s favorite players, especially if Paul Reed continues to ride the pines for no reason in particular.

Sidebar: With Andre Drummond gone, please give Paul Reed some play as a small-ball center. He could lob and switch with James Harden like many of his post-Clint Capella centers in Houston.

While conventional wisdom would suggest that the Sixers should target a player like Harris, even if it would be a nightmare having two players with the same last name on the same team, either option would be a solid get at this time of year. But do you know what? Why not try to get both? Why not go full-on 2018 and pursue two players from the same team in the hopes of jumpstarting some instant offense with a pair of familiar former teammates?

Did Harris and Lopez play together in Orlando? Yes, they shared the court for 281 minutes over 19 games. Were they particularly efficient in those 14.1-ish minutes per game? No, not particularly; they had a net rating of -6.1, but hey, when only three of the team’s two-man lineups that have played 100-plus minutes together have a positive net rating, you sort of have to take that with a grain of salt.

Assuming Harris plays 20-plus minutes of action a night as a regular rotational two guard behind Harden/Tyrese Maxey,  depending on your semantic preferences, and Lopez fills that Drummond role of being a starter in some games and a supplemental player in others, it’s not like the duo would have to form a big-usage tandem transplanted from Orlando to the City of Brotherly Love. All Lopez would have to do is outperform Paul Millsap, who was once a really good player but has looked washed so far this season in Brooklyn, and his addition would be an upgrade alongside Haris.

Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers have a puncher’s chance of making it out of the NBA. They have two All-Stars, two young rising stars, and enough of their core intact to maintain their momentum heading into the home stretch of the regular season. But if they can secure one or even two more upgrades via the buyout market, well, those Vegas odds might shrink even further. For now, sign Danuel House to a 10-day contract because, again, it’s a fantastic decision, but if Gary Harris, Robin Lopez, or both become available, don’t be surprised if Daryl Morey attempts to recapture that 2018 magic via the buyout market.