Philadelphia 76ers’ Summer of Blunders

Taking an exception to the 76ers exception (Do not read Hive)

Thinking at the time: With the salary cap filled to the brim thanks to the Harris and Horford signings, Brand and his collaborators had only one chance to pay for an impact player, as they had the Room Exception.

Since they were over the cap, the rest of the roster would have to filled out with minimum-salary players and rookies except for the Room Exception, where they could give a player almost $10 million for two years. Not a ton but a decent amount for a solid veteran looking to play on a contender.

Brand decided to use it on 6-foot-8 Mike Scott. He had come over as part of the Harris trade and, along with James Ennis, had been one of the few subs coach Brett Brown could count on in the playoffs.

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Scott had proven to be tough, a good outside shooter (his 41.2 percent 3-point shooting had been tops on the team during the regular season) and a great locker room guy. He also hit it off with the fans, who called themselves the ‘Hive’.

Right after the loss to Toronto, Scott told the media he had told Brand in their postseason interview he wanted to come back to the Sixers.

Brand, an ex-teammate of Scott’s, acceded to his demand, as the Hive rejoyced.

Blunder: This is not the mistake with the biggest impact, but it might be the most obvious one.

Scott did not shoot well in the playoffs (only 35.3 percent from 3) and was a defensive liability, albeit still a heck of lot better than the alternatives Brown had.

Scott would turn 31 years old during the next season. There was no untapped potential, he is what he is: a good locker-room guy and solid journeyman reserve who when he gets hot from outside can help a team.

He had never made more than $3.3 million in a season and now, despite now in his early 30s, he would be making a million and a half more than that for TWO YEARS.

Ennis also wanted to come back, and he did, for the veteran minimum (he later would be traded to Orlando where he became a starter for a playoff team).

Having Scott come back was not the mistake, he just should have received the same salary offer as Ennis. Did Brand really think teams would be throwing money at a career sub in his early 30s with a career average of 7.0 points? I guess he did.

Scott is the sixth-highest paid player on the team, although he usually was ninth or 10th player in the rotation, if coach Brett Brown played him at all.

The Room Exception could have been used on maybe a slick playmaker (Reggie Bullock, Derrick Rose or Ish Smith for a third time?) or a sold outside shooter (Kyle Korver or Rodney Hood?) or some good bench depth (Markieff Morris, JaMychal Green or Justin Holiday?), as all those listed ended up signing for around the the room exception salary.

Would any of them have helped the Sixers through some tough stretches this season? We will never know.