The Sixers recently introduced their new president of basketball operations, Mike Gansey. Now it’s time for him to start answering some of the difficult questions Philadelphia’s roster situation presents, Tony Jones writes for The Athletic.
The two factors that hang over all questions regarding the Sixers teambuilding are the futures of Paul George and Joel Embiid. Both veterans had moments of high-level play this season, but both have extremely expensive contracts and difficult injury histories. Since it’s unlikely they’ll be able to find palatable avenues to moving them, it’s imperative that they try to find ways to keep both on the floor as much as possible.
The non-taxpayer midlevel exception will be an important tool in their search for an impact player to help take the team from good to very good. They also have the 22nd pick in the draft, which Gansey is in a good position to be able to maximize the value of, given his time running the draft in Cleveland, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“At 22, you want to get a combination of best player available and fit with our roster,” Gansey said about his approach to the draft.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers will also have to figure out what to do with unrestricted free agent Quentin Grimes, who is coming off a rather disappointing second season in Philadelphia. Even after trading away Jared McCain, there’s an argument to be made that Kelly Oubre Jr. should be the incumbent player the team looks to retain, Adam Aaronson writes for the Philly Voice, especially because Grimes could have a wider range of teams interested in him given his age and shooting. Aaronson cites the Bulls, Clippers, and Bucks as possible suitors for the 26-year-old’s services.
- The Raptors have had to watch two players they traded away come through the East to reach the Finals in consecutive years in OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam. The team probably mishandled the Siakam trade, especially, Eric Koreen writes for The Athletic, but it seems unlikely that keeping him in Toronto would have worked in the long run anyway. When it comes to next steps, Koreen says it would behoove the team not to sign any more long-term contracts as the Raptors try to figure out how to improve the roster, which is surprisingly expensive given the deals they signed Brandon Ingram, Jakob Poeltl, and Immanuel Quickley to. Toronto shouldn’t be desperate to move Ingram and Quickley, but it does need to be careful with how it gives out money moving forward.
- The Nets are only 3.5 years removed from the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving experience, but their rebuild in recent years hasn’t quite gone according to plan, due in part to a lack of lottery luck. They will have to figure out how to start building a competitive roster this offseason, since the Rockets own their pick next summer, Yossi Gozlan writes in his offseason preview for The Third Apron. They could look to renegotiate and extend Michael Porter Jr., who had a strong first season in Brooklyn. They could also use their pick and young player stockpile to try to move up in the draft. They’re also on the clock when it comes to reserve center Day’Ron Sharpe, who has been productive for them off the bench for several years.
Yossi Goslan’s podcast on the Nets’ mock offseason is really interesting. He’s on with Brian Lewis and Erik Slater, and they are spitballing what the Nets should do. They discuss offering Reaves a max contract, trading for Sabonis and other more conservative ways to use their cap space. Fun episode.
TOR screwed the pooch on OG and Siakam by waiting too long to seriously price them in the trade market. They said “no” to their extension demands at least 1.5 years prior to moving them, and then marketed them like each was a top 10 player. Thus, both had to be traded as expiring deals.
The Raptors may have hamstrung themselves quite a lot. They’ve managed to find a few young diamonds – CMB and Ja’Kobe Walter look like long term guys. But they have so much money tied up in mediocrity – IQ/BI/Poetl are costing them $92m next year, and none of those guys move the needle.
After their success this year, they should be looking to take another step forward, but I’m not sure they can given their roster construction.