Philadelphia 76ers: Why Did They Sign Jerryd Bayless?

While Jerryd Bayless might not be the sexy free agent signing Sam Hinkie’s haters imagined when Bryan Colangelo became the man to lead the process forward, he could be the perfect type of point guard to pair with Ben Simmons and a good short-term option at the position.

When it came to possible point guards the Philadelphia 76ers could trade for or sign, Jerryd Bayless never came to mind. With reports suggesting the Sixers could sign Rajon Rondo or trade Nerlens Noel for Jeff Teague, I assumed Bryan wanted to get a point guard with some name recognition that would make casual fans shout, “Finally the Sixers are adding real NBA players!”

Rondo would have been the worst NBA player I can think of to mentor to younger players — imagine what unique advice Rondo could give Simmons on how to deal with referees, after receiving an unfair foul — his lack of shooting and ball handling heavy play style would be a bad fit with Simmons’ ball handling heavy play style.

While Teague would a good point guard for the Sixers and wouldn’t be too old at 28 years old, he would be an unrestricted free agent next season that the Sixers would have to give a max contract and he would likely refuse the Sixers’ offer to go to a team that will have better chance to compete for the NBA championship.

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By signing Bayless, Bryan shows that he won’t make the mistake of rushing to sign or trade for any available NBA regardless of fit and long-term success issues that doomed previous Sixers’ teams under Doug Collins and Billy King.

Jerryd Bayless turns 28 years old on August 20, and signed a three year fully guaranteed contract that pays him $8,612,440 during the 2016-17 season, $9,000,000 during the 2017-18 season, and $9,387,560 during the 2018-2019 season.

The 6-3, 200 pound point guard averaged 8.5 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game over his entire career. Bayless was the 11th pick of the of the 2008 NBA draft taken by the Indiana Pacers, but was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers on draft night. Excluding the Pacers, Bayless has played for the Trail Blazers, the then New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics, and Milwaukee Bucks.

The best season of Bayless’ career was the Raptor’s 2011-12 season, when he averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 assists per game. Bryan Colangelo happen to be the general manager for the Raptors that season, so it’s not surprising Bayless was the first free agent he signed for the Sixers.

A big reason for Bryan’s faith in Bayless comes from how he performed for the Bucks last season. Adam Coffman from Bucks’ blog Behind The Bucks Pass thought the team should re-sign Bayless.

In this article he mentioned Bayless’s abilities to shoot 43 percent from behind the 3-point last season, play shooting guard, and add veteran leadership to a young team as the mains reason for the Bucks to bring him back.

Mitchell Maurer from Bucks’ blog brewhoop.com wrote this article evaluating the performance of Bucks’ players last season including Bayless. In the synopsis section of the article Maurer wrote:

"Jerryd Bayless was a surprise last season, and any discussion of his year has to start with his three-point shooting. A career 36.5% shooter from deep, Bayless hit a career-best 43.7% this season, just the second time in his eight year career that he ecliposed 36% (he hit 42.3% in 2011-12 with Toronto). Bayless was particularly good spotting up, as he figured out a way to combine his relatively efficient shooting motion with outstanding verticality on his jumper. Seriously, few guards get as much air on their jump shots like Jerryd does."

In other parts of his game, Jerryd was less consistent. His defense wasn’t steady, his free throw shooting actually fell off from last year, and an ankle injury kept him out of the lineup for a significant amount of time. Still, the great shooting and synergy he shows with the Bucks’ core trio was a welcome development this season.”

When it comes to Bayless’ fit with the Sixers, expect to see the ideal point guard for a team built around pass first small/power forward Simmons and a dominant if healthy center in Joel Embiid, at least offensively. Bayless’ ability to catch-and-shoot would work better with Simmons and Embiid than a tradition point guard’s ability to shoot-off-the-dribble, because there will be many possessions on offense where Simmons is driving to the basket and needs someone that can be trusted to hit an open three when more than one player on the opposing team commits to stopping him, or Embiid is quickly doubled near the basket and needs a good shooter to help him out.

The Sixers don’t need a point guard to play quarterback by controlling the ball majority of the time on offense and whose number one goal is to get assists, or a point guard that relentlessly attacks the rim, because Simmons already can already do these thing at a near-elite level. This isn’t to say the Sixers are set at point guard for the foreseeable future, because Bayless’ good fit with the Sixers doesn’t change the fact that he’s an average at best NBA player.

Once the Sixers failed to trade for Kris Dunn during the 2016 NBA draft, any hope of finding a long-term answer at point guard this offseason likely died, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The unstoppable force known as the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors wasn’t built in one offseason. The Warriors had to draft Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, wait years for them to improve enough reach the NBA finals in consecutive years, and seduce a championship starving Kevin Durant to jump on their bandwagon after failing to win two championships in a row.

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Hopefully when Simmons and Embiid become stars, a great point guard will break the hearts non-Sixers NBA fans everywhere by ending their relationship with the team that drafted him and fan based that loved him to chase championships with us. Until that fantasy becomes reality, here is a great article by Derek Bodner about Bayless’ fit with the Sixers, as another reason why Jerryd Bayless was a great signing.

Why the Philadelphia 76ers Signed Jerryd Bayless

By Michael Bronson | Jul 15, 2016

While Jerryd Bayless might not be the sexy free agent signing Sam Hinkie’s haters imagined when Bryan Colangelo became the man to lead the process forward, he could be the perfect type of point guard to pair with Ben Simmons and a good short-term option at the position.