Otto Porter Jr. is an example of the types of moves the Sixers can’t make
Otto Porter Jr. hs signed onto a $106 million offer sheet over the next four years. Those types of contracts are what the Philadelphia 76ers need to avoid.
Otto Porter Jr. is a good player. After struggling towards the beginning of his career, the fourth year player out of Georgetown broke out with a career-high 13.4 points per game while hitting on 43.4 percent of his threes, which was towards the top of the NBA leader board. Standing at 6-foot-8 with long arms and a rangy frame, Porter’s physical tools are rare for players who shoot at such a high clip from deep.
Philadelphia 76ers
With all factors considered, the Brooklyn Nets dropped a max offer sheet for Porter this offseason, forcing the Wizards to either match a four-year, $106 million contract or let their third best offensive weapon part ways. Washington now has to figure out whether or not they can commit that kind of cash to a player of Porter’s ilk, while Brooklyn, who’s still a few years out from any remote level of competitiveness, could stand to eat a big contract in favor of a strong talent boost.
The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that needs to avoid contracts like that. Not necessarily on the basis of money alone, but on the basis of talent and it’s importance to the roster moving forward.
This is a debate that has seeped it’s way into Sixers circles by way of the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope discussion. While KCP is no longer restricted, he’s another talented young wing who’s looking to ride a career year to a max contract. Considering the fact that Tim Hardaway Jr. scraped together a $71 million offer from the New York Knicks, Caldwell-Pope’s market, to whatever extent it extends, should be relatively high.
Shelling out that kind of money to a player who doesn’t transform the competitive status of a team is always a gamble, though, and one this Philadelphia team is in no position to make. Additional depth is no longer a need this upcoming season, while J.J. Redick, as he ages, could be extended as a more financially conservative option after a year with the team. That limits the Sixers’ immediate needs at the two spot, while Robert Covington should be extended for far less than the max this upcoming season.
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Philadelphia can’t be vying for marginal improvements with players who tie their hands financially. The final year of Porter’s contract could eclipse $30 million. Considering the unreliability a player in his talent vein brings, that’s an absurd commitment for a team that will eventually need to re-sign the bulk of their core pieces.
The problem with paying players like Porter star-level money is the fact that he simply isn’t a star. He’s irrefutably productive, and long wings with a viable 3-point shot are inherently valuable in today’s league. But there’s also a level of variance with players like Porter that have to be taken into account.
His previous career-high in shooting was just 36.7 percent in the 2015-16 season, which barely surpasses league average. He took a sizable leap in what was by far the most productive campaign of his young career. There’s a good chance that he may regress back to the mean in the coming seasons, and his career arc likely doesn’t project too far beyond what he put up last season.
Porter is a viable spot-up threat with decent feel as a slasher, but his offensive game is limited almost entirely to off-ball situations. He doesn’t handle well in isolation, while even his defensive versatility is somewhat limited for a player with his length. He’s not the quickest 6-foot-8 swingman on the floor, which means he’s most limited to threes and fours on that side of the ball.
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Philadelphia will need to extend Joel Embiid next summer, with contracts for Dario Saric, Ben Simmons and eventually Markelle Fultz all looming over the course of the next four seasons. When you factor in a market value extension for Covington, that’s five contracts that could extend beyond the average starting player in the NBA. Porter could knock one or two of those players off the Sixers’ roster for financial reasons alone, while a decrease in production could devalue him on the trade market by the time a transaction is necessary.
We’ve seen situations like Porter, and like Caldwell-Pope, in the past. DeMarre Carroll and Kent Bazemore, while not latching onto max contracts, were signed to sizable deals in lieu of their own breakout years. Carroll has since struggled as the Raptors’ starting three, while Bazemore fell out of the Hawks’ starting rotation at times last season.
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Strong role players — especially 3-and-D wings — have a place in the NBA. Teams like the Sixers, though, who need to operate in a more conservative nature, can’t forgo financial flexibility in favor of strong role players whose ceiling may not extend beyond the third or fourth option on a competitive team.