Jerryd Bayless is being looked at as a decent signing by Bryan Colangelo and the Philadelphia 76ers, but why?
It took the Philadelphia 76ers a while to make noticeable moves on July 1st, the day that the free agency bartering period opens up, but once they did make a move, they filled a huge void — the point guard slot. This spot has had questions all throughout the past several years, but the questions were asked again early Friday morning when the Sixers didn’t even bother to give free agent Ish Smith a call.
Reportedly, Smith agreed to a deal with the Detroit Pistons early Friday morning.
And so, the Sixers went to work, looking for a player to fill the point guard slot. Although it looked as if they could be working up a trade — and they still could be — since the team was looking at mostly shooting guards, the Sixers hit us with a curveball on Friday afternoon, signing Jerryd Bayless.
When I first heard of this — along with many others — my first thought was “meh.” Really, that’s still what I’m mainly thinking, but the more I look into Bayless, I think it definitely wasn’t a bad signing by any means, just not an overwhelmingly great one.
He can’t officially sign until July 7th, but reportedly, terms to a deal have been agreed upon.
There’s lots of reasons to like Bayless coming to Philly. Here’s a few of them.
Next: Understands the system
System understanding
Jerryd Bayless definitely understands the business side of the NBA, which is why he’s had no problems keeping up his level of play when he’s migrated to different teams. The Sixers will be the seventh team Bayless will be playing for in less than 10 years of experience.
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This is good for a few reasons.
First, we can be confident that Bayless is used to moving around, and won’t have problems joining a new team. This was one of the attractive parts of Ish Smith. When he re-joined the team shortly after Christmas this past season, he had no issues going from one team to another.
With the entire offseason to adjust to the new team, staff and teammates, Bayless should be well prepared for the start of the regular season.
The second reason an understanding of the system is important is because he can talk players through issues that may come up with the Sixers and their willingness to shop players around. Since the Sixers have a logjam in the frontcourt, there have been many rumors saying that the team would like to trade one of their big men. Nerlens Noel has been brought up several times, and that may be troubling on him.
Let’s say Nerlens is coming into this season feeling down that he saw his name brought up in trade rumors during the offseason. He may have thoughts that say, “well, why would I want to play for a team that doesn’t even want me?”
Bayless could step in to situations like this and put Noel’s mind at ease, reminding him that the NBA is a business, and that the team could still like him very much.
Next: Mix of experience and youth
Mix of experience and youth
There’s no secret that Bryan Colangelo wanted veterans, and seemed to want to do everything he possibly could to get them. For some fans that were huge believers in the process, youth and high ceilings, that was troubling. Was Colangelo going to trade away all the young and high-potential pieces for old heads?
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Certainly, he hasn’t strayed too far from showing that he would like veterans. Signing Bayless is proof of that. That being said, Bayless has a decent mix of youth and experience, something that will satisfy both him and the “land the plane, Sam” group, and also the process cult.
Bayless comes onto the Sixers roster with eight years of experience, and four years of playoff experience (with about 30 playoff games under his belt). He seems to be the type of person with enough character to be a leader to the team, and he certainly has the years and basketball experience to add to that quality of being a veteran presence.
That being said, he also isn’t too old, he’s definitely no Paul Pierce on this group of young players. He’s older than them, yes, but he’s not so much older that he won’t be able to contribute to the team. He’s arguably not even past his prime.
Last season he averaged 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. These may seem a bit low for a player making $10 million a year, but Bayless offers so many veteran off-court qualities to this young and growing roster that I believe it’s worth it.
Next: Great price
Great price
When I first saw this deal, I thought the Sixers were overpaying for Bayless. Nearly $30 million over the course of three seasons for a basketball player who is good but not great seemed like a lot, especially since Bayless has never made much more than $3 million in any given season.
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And now the Sixers were going to give him nearly $10 million a season? No thank you.
But the more I think about it, and the more my mind adjusts to this new salary cap, the more I realize that getting Bayless for this contract is not bad in any way. Bayless, if he makes an exact three-year split of his total contract, will be making less than 10 percent of the team’s total salary cap per season, which isn’t bad for what he offers, in my opinion.
Even if he doesn’t end up being the starter, the Sixers could sign 10 players to similar deal and still just meet the salary cap. They can always pay the luxury tax and go over, if they feel like they need to.
The point is that this contract, although it looks huge in terms of real money, doesn’t have that much bearing on the current salary cap structure, especially since the Sixers were bound to overpay everyone that they bring in over the next few seasons.
Next: 3-point shot
3-point shot
As the Sixers were evaluating free agents, many were hoping that solid 3-point shooting would be at the top of the team’s priority list. It looks like it was, and Bayless is a good example of that.
Although last season was his best 3-point shooting season of all time at 42.3 percent from beyond the arc, he has had a solid career in the realm of the long-ball, shooting above 35 percent over a span of 8 seasons.
The Sixers, even if they get rid of Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel this offseason, have a lot of players who need space in the paint to work. Having a player like Bayless who can really get things spaced out, is invaluable to the team at the moment. Add him to Nik Stauskas, Robert Covington, and maybe even Hollis Thompson and you’ve got yourself a start at a really solid group of wing players.
Bayless will hopefully keep up his recent up-kick of high-level 3-point shooting for the Sixers next year. It would be unfortunate to see that fade in his first year of his new contract.
Next: A good fit with Ben Simmons
Fits with Simmons
What may be an overlooked positive element of this signing is that Bayless fits in pretty decently with first overall pick Ben Simmons. Simmons might need a specific type of point guard in the lineup with him, and Bayless just might be that guy.
Air Alamo
Although having a solid point guard — one who can score and also pass — is a great plan for most teams, having a pass-heavy guard on the court with Simmons could be damaging. Simmons is a point-forward type of player, a player who requires the ball in his hands a lot. Simmons can facilitate the offense himself, much like a pass-first point guard does at times.
Bayless, who averaged 2.5 assists last season, is not a pass-heavy guard like many others who run the point position are. Instead, he does a lot more scoring, averaging 9.1 points per game in Milwaukee last year.
What’s nice is that Bayless is familiar with this. The Bucks had an experimental year, especially in the latter half of the season in 2016. They allowed the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo to run the point a large chunk of the time, and Bayless knows how to work as a guard even in that situation.
The Bucks second most used lineup last season had Giannis and Bayless together, so I have confidence in the potential with Simmons and Bayless together.
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With Isaiah Canaan and Ish Smith out of the picture, Bayless and Simmons on the floor could be a good combination, better than any of those two could have offered.