Philadelphia 76ers: Was it a summer of blunders or success?

Free agent day

July 10, 2019: Signed Al Horford as a free agent; signed Tobias Harris as a free agent; signed Mike Scott as a free agent.

While the draft is always a crapshoot and the Butler situation was kind of sideways, free agency is a good way to evaluate the skill of a front office.

Officially, all three of the Sixers major free agents signed on the same day. Basically, good, bad and townspeople with torches ready to burn the place down.

What we thought then: When’s the parade?

Even though he cost $96 million (and as high as $109 million with incentives) for four years, most people were thrilled with the Horford signing. Not only did it hurt a major rival, the hated Celtics, but also removed one of Embiid’s toughest defenders.

It also meant the 76ers would not completely fall apart when Embiid was not playing. Brand did not forget that in Game 7 against Toronto. The Sixers outscored them by 12 points when Embiid was on the floor. For the mere 96 seconds that Greg Monroe was in the post, the Raptors beat them by 12.

With Horford in the fold, the Sixers now had a five-time all-star to play the post when Embiid was out. Horford would spend time at power forward until sliding over to center to spell Embiid. He also was known as a total professional and would be a great influence in the locker room.

It seemed a great situation, and it also screwed the hated Celtics.

Some people questioned the offensive fit, giving that much money to a 33-year-old who had some knee problems the past year, but they were quickly shooshed.

To re-sign Harris was not controversial. To re-sign a guy who has never made an all-star team to an almost max five-year, $180 million contract did raise a few eyebrows.

When Butler left, Harris and his agent (his dad, who did a good job obviously) knew they had the 76ers over a barrel. To have given up so many hard-earned (by Sam Hinkie) assets and have both Butler and Harris leave after playing less than a year would have left egg on Brand’s face.

The fact Harris (like all new players under Brett Brown) did not shoot as well as he did with the Clippers did not help justify his big paycheck with the public. His dreadful shooting performance in Game 4 against Toronto stuck in a lot of fans craw. If the Sixers win that game, there likely is no Game 7 for Kawhi to be the hero in.

Was Harris a max contract-level player? Probably not but he most likely was in the next tier below.

As an unrestricted free agent, rumors were flying he was looking to go to his home area Nets or Knicks. The Nets ended up getting Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, so Harris might not have ended up there, but the Knicks, who bombed out on every big free agent, would have dumped a truckload of money on Harris’ Tarrytown doorstep.

The bottom line is, if the Sixers had not overpaid Harris, some other team would have.

The re-signing of Mike Scott was a popular choice.

Coming over in the Harris trade, Scott bonded quickly with the Philadelphia fans. His physical, take-no-prisoners attitude fit in well with the blue collar town.

The fact Scott and James Ennis were the only substitutes who did not completely embarrass themselves in the playoffs also gave people a warm, fuzzy feeling about his return.

Scott made it clear at the end of the season he wanted to come back. He said at his meeting with Elton Brand he told him flat out he wanted to come back.

Scott, and the Hive, were pleased when he signed a two-year, $9.8 million contract. Fans also liked when he said they should boo Jimmy Butler. The fact Brand used the ‘room exception’ on Scott, a career 7.0 point scorer, and tripled his salary was little mentioned in all the hoopla of early July.

With the prospect of a starting lineup of Embiid, Simmons, Horford, Richardson and Harris, with Scott coming off the bench, former Sixers great Charles Barkley summed up the feeling of fans at that time:

“The Sixers have everything,” said Barkley as he predicted a championship, according to the Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. ”

What we think now: Yikes!.

The Horford signing has not been an unmitigated disaster, merely a catastrophe. He has never fit in with the rest of the starting offense (the word clunky frequently used) and his defense has not been on a par with his past. Even when Embiid was out he played just okay, not at his old All-Star level.

It got so bad that Brett Brown had to pull him from the starting lineup briefly, not a good sign for someone you just signed for four years and a lot of money. Trade rumors erupted in the media about unloading Horford in the offseason, although the Sixers reportedly rebuffed teams that inquired about him at the trade deadline.

So, the situation with Horford is …. not ideal.

Harris has been pretty much as advertised, not an All-Star but pretty close. For those who expected his game would improve because he was being paid more money, it does not work that way.

His defense as a small forward has been better than expected. He raised his three-point shooting percentage from 32.6 percent last year with the Sixers to a more acceptable 36.2 percent, which is close to his career average (although not as good as the 42.6 percent shooting he had with Clippers last season).

Should Harris be tied for the 10th highest salary in the NBA strictly on merit? Maybe not, but he is a player who certainly could be a piece of a championship team. Harris was an above average player this season, but not at a max contract level.

(Warning: Members of the Hive should skip to the next page)

Maybe the most disastrous of the three signings has been Scott. It is not just that Scott has been pretty awful for most of the season, but it is a big fail on Brand’s part for using the Room Exception to sign him.

Scott made $1.5 million in 2018-19 in a contract he negotiated with the Clippers. Did Brand think  someone would outbid them for a 31-year-old journeyman? Great guy, good teammate, great with fans and as a player helpful when he can shoot threes, but not for a  two-year deal worth almost $10 million.

The 76ers might have been able to get a nice point guard or a dead-on shooter with the Room Exception slot. James Ennis signed for the minimum to be part of the Sixers again, no reason Scott could not have done same.

In a way, this decision might have bitten the 76ers in the rear just as badly as the Horford signing, as it stopped them from getting an impact player. Hey, not Scott’s fault, they showed him the money and he signed. Who wouldn’t? This was a major fail by the organization.

RE-GRADE:

• Horford: D
• Harris: B
• Scott: F+