5 Free Agents Philadelphia 76ers Should Not Waste Time With

Josh Wilson

Nov 9, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; The Philadelphia 76ers logo on the warm up shirt of center Jahlil Okafor (not pictured) prior to action against the Chicago Bulls at Wells Fargo Center. The Bulls won 111-88. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to be active in free agency, but there are some players that could easily be a waste of time.

NBA free agency is almost here, and there is a ton of money to be spent, especially for the Philadelphia 76ers. Around the league, money will be dumped like never before as the salary cap increases nearly 30 percent, but the Sixers have a ton of cap space that they need to use before they even reach the salary floor of about $80 million.

In previous years, the Sixers have signed players or traded for players with large contracts in order to get themselves up to the floor, and later released them, or released them before they even played with the team. Gerald Wallace was traded for before last season, and released before training camp came around. He was the highest salary on the Sixers payroll.

This year will be different. The Sixers need actual players back for their money, and will turn to trades and free agency to get that done.

That being said, teams need to be smart about their free agency strategy, especially the Sixers. The Sixers are in an interesting predicament, being a team that won just 10 games overall last season. Lots of players are not wanting to go to Philly because it’s viewed as such a losing culture, which is a fair view after winning just 48 games over the last three seasons.

You need to establish a strategy when approaching free agency. Free agent meetings open up on July 1st, and the signing period begins on July 7th. The big name free agents usually have their decision by the 7th or shortly after, so that really only leaves a week’s amount of time to get things figured out.

The Sixers need to manage their time wisely when approaching free agency, figuring out which players are worth pursuing, and which are not. They can’t be wasting all of their time, otherwise they very well could come out of free agency empty-handed.

Several of the free agents, for one reason or another, should be avoided by the Sixers so that they can use their time on more realistic free agents.

Next: Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant

First off, and perhaps most obviously a waste of time is Kevin Durant. The Philadelphia 76ers were not mentioned in the first string of teams to get a meeting with KD, nor were they mentioned in the second group. As of now, six teams have confirmed face-to-face meetings with Durant, the biggest free agent of the season, and the Sixers are not one of them.

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Still, there’s reason to believe that the Sixers could possibly get meeting if they really wanted to. Reportedly the New York Knicks are the next-in-line team.

Despite the possibility of them getting a meeting with Durant if they really wanted to, it’s not worth their time. The likelihood of a meeting with him leading to a real signing is incredibly slim, and even the most irrational Sixers fans have come to a realization that KD to Philly is not happening.

That being said, if the team did get a meeting, it would probably hype fans up a lot. But all the energy and resources going into a meeting with Durant would be better spent somewhere else, with more realistic free agents.

Next: Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond is a huge free agent this year that is not getting as much attention as he should. Drummond is a double-double machine, and was one of the best parts of the Detroit Pistons this past season. Drummond averaged 16.2 points and a league-leading 14.8 rebounds per game for the Pistons.

Drummond would be a huge get for the Sixers, but he simply doesn’t fit with this squad. The only case where this makes any sort of sense is if the Sixers somehow have deals lined up for both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, thus making the center position open once again.

Even if the center position is open, the last thing the Sixers need in their offense is a center that can’t hit free throws, and a center that’s subject to the hack-a-player late in games.

Drummond is a solid player, and getting a player of his caliber would be an incredible step for the Sixers. That being said, they don’t need to be scheduling meeting with any centers or power forwards that can’t hit the 3-point shot this offseason.

Next: DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan is a very good player. DeRozan also showed in this year’s playoffs that he has a bit of a tendency to come up short when it matters most, putting up some really horrific shooting displays in the Eastern Conference Finals this year.

Nicolas Batum

A few weeks ago, I definitely would not have had Nic Batum on this list, but at this point, I have no problem putting him here and saying that the Sixers have no reason to pursue him this summer. Listen — Batum is good. I don’t know if he’s worth the max, but he’s worth a decent amount of money, that’s for sure.

Earlier this season, he seemed like an athlete that the Sixers could possibly swing their way during free agency. But now, he’s got teams such as the Golden State Warriors looking at him. With that caliber of teams looking to sign Batum, I don’t see a realistic scenario where he says, “no thank you,” to them and comes to the Sixers.

The Warriors will reportedly target Batum if they come up short with Durant, which I expect to happen. I think if the Warriors want Nic, they will easily get him to come play for them. That temptation of such a good team and the opportunity to win a title is tough to turn down. I think Batum also fits into that system better than he fits into the Sixers system.

Next: J.R. Smith

J.R. Smith

J.R. Smith is not a player I expect to see the Sixers making any moves towards, but if they did, I would definitely feel as if it was a waste of time. J.R. is a solid role player on a contending team, but the Sixers are not that right now.

Smith is one of those last pieces of the puzzle, the last signing or trade you make to turn your team from a late-playoff team into a title contending team. That’s exactly what the Cavs did with Smith.

Smith, who just won his first NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers and won’t put a shirt back on, will likely re-sign with the Cavs. I see a few teams who may be interested in him, but they don’t seem like realistic happenings.

If the Sixers are going to sign a veteran this summer, it shouldn’t be someone like Smith. Smith has never been a leader, and would be a truly poor example to a lot of these younger guys. J.R. is all about partying, the nightlife scene, and being a crazy dude. Somehow, he makes all of that work alongside his career, but he would be a negative influence on guys like Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel who already have poor track records as far as off-the-court behavior is concerned.

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Smith would be too much money for a player that doesn’t make the most sense for Philly. Avoid him at all costs.

Josh Wilson

Josh is currently the Managing Editor of FanSided.com. He has worked with FanSided in some capacity for a total of eight years, starting as a contributor for Swarm and Sting, Toro Times, and HoopsHabit in 2015. He served as a site expert for The Sixer Sense during 'The Process' years while starting his educational track at Temple University as a journalism student. He later transferred to the State University of New York at Cortland where he completed his B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in journalism. For FanSided, Josh worked as Operations Assistant before taking on a role as Editorial Director of the NBA Division, a role he held for three years. Along the way he also helped start and lead the FanSided fellowship program which created a path for several young journalists to start their careers in sports media. Nothing is more important to Josh than Yankee wins and his family.