The Sixers have signed Ronald Roberts Jr. and waived Jorge Gutierrez, team spokesperson Michael Preston announced via Twitter. Philadelphia had acquired Gutierrez as part of the Andrei Kirilenko trade Thursday, though coach Brett Brown hinted today that the point guard’s situation with the team was “fluid.” Kirilenko nonetheless remains on the Sixers roster in spite of reports from prior to the trade indicating that Philadelphia intended to let him go, as the Sixers are apparently interested in keeping him as a potential trade chip for later this season. Gutierrez had a $25K partial guarantee on his contract, but he’d already earned more than that his season, so the portion of his minimum salary that he’d collected so far this season will remain on Philly’s books. It’s unclear what sort of contract Roberts is getting.
Roberts, 23, is well-known to the Sixers, having spent training camp with the team in October after going undrafted out of St. Joseph’s this past June. Philadelphia gave the Adam Pensack client a partial guarantee of $35K when it signed him for camp and retained his D-League rights after waiving him before opening night. The 6’8″ power forward has put up 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game for the D-League affiliate of the Sixers so far this season.
Gutierrez inked a pair of 10-day contracts late last season with the Nets before signing a contract that covered the rest of the season with a non-guaranteed salary for 2014/15 tacked on. Gutierrez earned his partial guarantee when the Nets declined to waive him before training camp, but he saw only 4.4 MPG in 10 appearances this season, much less playing time than the 16.3 MPG he saw in 15 games with Brooklyn last season.
Philly’s roster count remains at 15 players in the wake of today’s move. The team is as flexible as ever, with only nine fully guaranteed contracts.