Jan 16, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger (33) reacts after scoring a basket during a game against the New York Knicks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
While all of us were sleeping last night — re-energizing our brains after being manhandled by the NBA trade deadline yesterday, the Sixers made another move. With the roster standing at 16 players — someone needed to be cut. To my surprise, the Sixers cut Earl Clark.
OFFICIAL: #Sixers waive forward Earl Clark – http://t.co/GjT9CxFRke
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 21, 2014
I was actually excited to watch Earl Clark play. He’s a player that has showed some promise in this league in previous years. Plus, I actually know this name — unlike Henry Sims (no idea who he is still).
But, The Earl of Philadelphia’s time in Philadelphia is over before it could even begin.
Now, onto the interesting topic: Danny Granger
To start off, Danny Granger does NOT want to be in Philadelphia. Do we blame him? Of course not. He’s been something of a winner his whole career and was just ditched by his former team that’s on the precipice of going to the NBA Finals. Now, he’s on a team that may win less than 10 games for the remainder of the season. Not the most ideal situation, right?
Sam Hinkie held a press conference today and the following quotes were said about the Granger situation:
Sam Hinkie: "We'll meet with (Granger). ... It's going to be interesting. We're going to sit and talk."
— Christopher A. Vito (@ChrisVito) February 21, 2014
Sam Hinkie on whether Danny Granger gets bought out: "There's a chance for us to have a discussion."
— Christopher A. Vito (@ChrisVito) February 21, 2014
Why is the Granger situation so interesting? Let’s refer to some tweets from ESPN’s Marc Stein:
It is NOT an automatic DGranger will get a buyout from Sixers. Keeping him for sign-and-trade options this summer holds appeal for Philly
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 21, 2014
But Granger clearly does not want to be in Philly and is expected to push for his release to try to work his way to Miami, OKC, SA, etc.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 21, 2014
Granger's camp said to want buyout ... but he'd lose his Bird rights going that route. So lots to talk about in those "discussions" w/Hinkie
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 21, 2014
So, first: What the hell are bird rights?
Bird rights are a rule in the CBA (named after Larry Bird), that will allow teams to go over the salary cap to re-sign their own players. A player can earn Bird rights by playing for the same team for at least three seasons (Granger’s case), either on multi-year deals or separate one-year contracts.
BUT.
A player can lose his Bird rights by the following:
- Changing teams via free agency
- Player is waived and not claimed on waivers
- His rights are renounced by his team
- Selected in the expansion draft
Granger would lose his Bird rights if he is waived or “bought out” by the Sixers. So, it might be hard to a team flexed by the cap — which are usually title contending teams — to sign him. See the problem here? You can find a lot more information on Bird rights at this link.
The Sixers could hold onto Granger for these 27 games, let him play out, pray that he has a decent half-season and then use him as sign-and-trade bait during the off-season. This would obviously benefit the Sixers more than just letting him go. However, Granger would not be happy here and who knows what the team would realistically expect out of him. A 30-year old Danny Granger has no interest in wasting time and possibly risking getting injured again on a team that has no way to salvage anything out of a terrible season.
What should the Sixers do?
Well, the NBA is a business, we must remember this. No matter how unhappy Granger is in a Sixers uniform, we can’t think of that. Plus, how many Sixers fan’s really care about Granger anyways? I don’t. I’m all for the Sixers letting him play out the season and then seeing if there is anything out there during the off-season for him. ANYTHING is better than NOTHING — which is something we learned yesterday. Getting Henry Sims for Spencer Hawes is better than letting Spencer Hawes walk.
Plus, having Danny Granger play in a Sixers uniform is the only thing that might get me through this season. Seriously, if Granger is bought out, HOW ARE THE SIXERS GOING TO WIN GAMES? Or even one game, for that matter. Without Granger, I’m not sure the Sixers could win more than two games the rest of the season. Please, give Michael Carter-Williams SOMETHING to work with. The last thing we need is for his morale to be seriously damaged during the last half of a “tanking” season. His physical tools are obviously there, but if he gets sidetracked and discourage mentally, there’s no telling how long that could take to fix.
Buckle up everyone, this last half of a season is going to be VERY rough to watch.