Will The Philadelphia 76ers Trade Salary Space For 2016 Draft Picks?

The Philadelphia 76ers restocked their draft cupboards by taking on swollen NBA contracts for draft picks. But with changing of the guard, that will all change.

Hey Philadelphia, there is a new sheriff in town.

No, I’m not playing the role of Captain Obvious. I’m merely willing to serve as the tour guide for what that will likely mean going forward. You see, the old regime has been found guilty or unworthy or to be lacking. Whether you are in agreement with the winds of change blowing as a gale through the Philadelphia 76ers organization right now, or stand in defiance, we would all benefit from understanding what some of the obvious changes are going forward.

Newcomer Bryan Colangelo, brought in to replace Sam Hinkie in both President and General Manger functions, has a set of objectives from Philadelphia 76ers ownership, particularly from majority owner Joshua Harris. Among Harris’ chief objectives is to see Colangelo create a balanced roster. Balanced means driving the current roster away from the youth skewed makeup of the current players, and more towards obtaining some NBA veteran presence – ideally in the three or four year mark. That would place the team’s age in a tight range that could peak simultaneously. It would also smooth off the rough edges of the too young roster of the 2015-2016 season – where most players have potential to become something special in the NBA, but all are experiencing NBA infancy simultaneously.

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But when the Philadelphia 76ers shop the free agent markets, are they shopping for true superstars, or are they focusing on the emerging superstars of tomorrow’s NBA. Once it was expected that the Philadelphia 76ers could not dream about a marquis name. But Bryan Colangelo says not to write off attracting an All-Star NBA player just yet:

"“A lot has to happen. Health has to happen. Development has to happen. It’s a valid starting point, to say what teams win in this league. There’s a minimum of two, a maximum of three, sometimes a combination of three or four in the middle range, who are considered star-level players. But how do you define star-level? It can be an All-Star. It can be a First-Team, Second-Team, Third-Team All-NBA player. You win with talent, but you also win with talent plus chemistry plus culture. Those are all the things that are put in place here, and that we really look forward to building.” – Bryan Colangelo discussing adding free agent talent to the team"

But building through free agency requires available salary cap. Previously, those salary cap dollars were committed towards absorbing expensive contracts from other teams. It’s clear that the intention of the Philadelphia 76ers this year is to make use of the free dollars in pursuit of their own free agents. Without a pipeline of absorbing bad contracts from other teams, the Philadelphia 76ers will now be going in a new direction.

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However, that comes at a price. We’ve discussed the fact that the Philadelphia 76ers have no second round draft picks in the 2016 NBA draft, a vulnerability in that this is an area of the NBA draft where the Philadelphia 76ers electrified with rapid and successive moves. From the second round, the Philadelphia 76ers have landed such talent as Jerami Grant and Richaun Holmes. But going forward, the 76ers do not appear to have interest in bringing along talent as much as bringing in elite veterans. With no interest in releasing valuable salary cap space to other NBA teams, and with no perceived interest in pursuing the 2016 NBA draft second round, the Sixers will likely be shut of of the second round for the first time in three years.

So be it.

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The NBA draft will likely not be seeing the electrifying moves, deals, picks and parting with picks as has been the trademark of the Philadelphia 76ers in the less popular round. Now the Philadelphia 76ers will have a new modus operandi. Now the team will be driving up the prices of free agents, forcing teams stuck with swollen player contracts to deal elsewhere, or not at all, in relieving their cash flow of the luxury tax of poor choices. After all, that’s what the NBA wanted.

Perhaps they should have been more careful what they wished for. It seems they have awoken a sleeping giant.