After waiving Kris Humphries, Emeka Okafor and James Blackmon Jr., the Philadelphia 76ers have signed three new players.
As the roster deadline inches closer, the Philadelphia 76ers have signed Andrew Andrews, Marc Loving and James Webb III to contracts. This comes shortly after the Sixers waived Humphries, Okafor and Blackmon Jr. It’s expected that these three players will get cut before Monday’s deadline.
The #sixers have signed Andrew Andrews, Loving and James Webb III. They will be waived shortly, signed to be affiliate cuts.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) October 14, 2017
In addition to Andrews, Loving and Webb will likely play for the Delaware 87ers. ESPN’s Ian Begley is reporting that E. Okafor will also play for the Sevens. He does so in hopes of some NBA team signing him to their active roster this season.
Explain how the G-League and NBA system works
Just to clarify, players signed to the Philadelphia 76ers G-league affiliate Delaware 87ers can be signed by any NBA team to their active roster. As the season progresses, NBA teams will have further options for signing prospects to 10-day contracts to audition the player’s fit with the NBA team. Given Okafor’s age and lack of playing time in the past few years, chances that an NBA team will sign him to a roster seems kinda slim. However, he could attract interest internationally.
Only Two-Way contracts and outright active roster players remain exclusively associated with one NBA team. All G-league players can be signed by any NBA team. However, NBA teams can only sign players and refer them to slots on their G-league team. For those NBA teams without a G-league team (and they are few), the NBA assigns them slots on various G-League teams for asssigning players.
Back to the signings
For Best Balikesir Basketbol Kulubu, Andrew Andrews averaged a decent 14.42 points per game. The former Washington Husky has been looking for an opportunity to work his way onto an NBA team, this could be one of the only chances he gets. Still, he is an intriguing pick up for the team. As you know, current top-pick Markelle Fultz played for Washington as well. In fact, the Philadelphia Eagles just picked up Sidney Jones IV and Elijah Qualls. Washington is very popular for Philadelphia nowadays. Andrews played with Marquese Chriss and Dejounte Murray at Washington.
James Webb II isn’t new to the 76ers, as he played for the team in 2016 during Summer League and preseason. The then played for the Delaware 87ers last season, before his season ended abruptly due to an ankle injury. He is someone to watch.
Last but not least, Marc Loving is an undrafted free agent who played all four years at Ohio State University. A chance to play in the G-League is a great one for the forward, getting a chance to prove himself this soon in his career is crucial. He has intriguing positives, particularly a good perimeter shot and natural spacing. He is raw, though, and will use his G-League time well.
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Don’t be surprised when these three players get cut in the coming days, this move was made with intentions of these players playing for the 87ers in the G-League.