Is Free Agency Next For Philadelphia 76ers?

The Philadelphia 76ers are looking at six new faces in 2016. But is that enough? If not, the team may be making significant efforts to attract free agents in 2016.

The Philadelphia 76ers are both blessed and cursed at their own misfortunes. Cursed in that with a poor showing in the record books for three years running, the team has exhausted whatever goodwill currency they may have had over the years. Nobody wants to lose in the NBA, but that appears to be a prerequisite in order to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s a humbling experience, and one that many in the league have taken umbrage over. The team is cursed in that they are still developing players, still seeking who can do what, who fits at which position and with which teammates.

But with a team sitting on four first round picks, and an additional two first round selections joining the team next season, the roster suddenly takes on a shiny luster of hope and rebirth. Four first round picks, which could include the top overall pick as well as the fourth pick in this NBA draft. That should be enough to give the team some hope, shouldn’t it?

Well, to those who understand the process, it’s what they’ve waited for. Nearly starving for three years, president and general manager Sam Hinkie will finally serve up a banquet in this years draft – which will do no worse than three first round picks with one guaranteed in the top five. If the stars align, that will be four first round picks with two in the top five. But as we’ve seen in the rumors of the trade deadline, the team is not simply as content to sit and let things happen around them as we were led to believe. The team had been actively seeking to upgrade at the point guard position, despite the gutsy efforts there by returning Ish Smith and rookie T.J. McConnell.

If the team is pursuing a point guard actively now, what does the shopping list include going forward? While we will look to answer that in the weeks ahead, we can take a look at the strategy of the team as the NBA draft approaches. There are four ways for a team to get better. The first way, and the most obvious way, is to train and develop the players currently on the roster. For the past three years, this has been the go-to approach of the Philadelphia 76ers. That’s why the team insisted on extending head coach Brett Brown for two more years.

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The second method is to make full use of the NBA draft system. That’s also a very common approach for this Sixers team, and has been the key avenue for introducing new faces for the team. While the Sixers have been amassing draft picks over the years, their most recent trade for Ish Smith cost them two second round draft picks. While that does not seem awfully expensive for a starting point guard, the fact that the Sixers have reportedly packaged Smith in a proposed trade with the Atlanta Hawks for their backup point guard, Dennis Shroeder.

While the deal did not happen, the message that the Philadelphia 76ers are looking at upgrading at the point guard position was received loud and clear. The team had acquired the rights to Ish Smith, but only through year end. At the end of this season, the team faces losing both Elton Brand and Ish Smith to free agency. Additionally, the team will have the right of first refusal on Isaiah Canaan in the off-season. Trading is the third way the Sixers can land new talent in the hopes to upgrade their roster. While they have any number of players who might serve a bench role on other teams, the Sixers are currently not filled with starting caliber talent on the roster. And so, trades will require the Sixers to contribute premium value (much like the three player plus one first round pick offer to the Hawks) in order to entice their trading partner to make the deal. The upside is the Sixers direct who they get. The downside is that paying a premium to do so, if it is not the right player, delays their own team rebuild.

But there is a fourth way, a way that has seldom been used by the Sixers in recent years, but one that is surely about to get a jump start. The Sixers will be looking to free agency. The value of free agency is the team pays nothing but the salary to the newly signed player. But free agents want more than money, they want a good working environment and a chance to win an NBA championship. With the team nearing the end of the season, Philadelphia 76er executive Jerry Colangelo reiterated his commitment to creating a healthy culture in the organization.

Jerry Colangelo emphasized, as he did here last month, key to advancing team is creating culture that makes it a free agent destination.
— brianseltzer (@brianseltzer) February 26, 2016

While many teams have to manage their purse strings, for the moment, the Philadelphia 76ers are not hindered. In fact, the team has taken on the contracts of other team’s players in exchange for draft picks to help them minimize their penalty in the form of a luxury tax. However, the team cannot be blinded in a spend now fashion. In 2017, the team will be faced with the rights of first refusal with players Nerlens Noel, Hollis Thompson, and Jerami Grant, as well as free agency of Robert Covington and Carl Landry. There is also the complication that Dario Saric‘s contract will be structured in such a way to allow his access to new negotiations after his rookie limits have expired.

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But the team has a long way to go to start bumping into salary cap concerns. For now, the struggle is not fitting everyone into a salary cap but in attracting free agents. That is an area that Jerry Colangelo, and his network of contacts, can make significant headway. His is the friendly handshake, the man who not only listens, but who has enough authority to make a difference. Perhaps the team will be content in the off-season to wait patiently for the NBA draft to deliver new talent. But if the trade deadline picture truly tells the tale, the team will not be as patient as in years past.

They have been patient long enough.