Sixers free agency 2021: To-do list after quiet first day

The Sixers’ first day of free agency was a quiet one. Furkan Korkmaz re-signed for three years, $15 million, and Dwight Howard departed for the golden shores of LA. And then, crickets. Daryl Morey has a lot on his plate — the Ben Simmons trade chief among them — but to see so many enticing names jump off the board while the Sixers did nothing was a slight bummer.

That said, not all is lost. There is more than one day of free agency, and not every name is off the board. Morey has bullets left in the chamber, and Philadelphia has trade maneuverability beyond Simmons, too. The action can only pick up from here.

With that in mind, here are three things that should top Morey’s to-do list entering the second day of NBA free agency.

Sixers free agency to-do list #1: Re-sign Danny Green

I’ve written about this in the past — there is no reason, basketball or financial, to let Danny Green walk. If he decides to take his talents elsewhere, fine. He has free will. If he’s open to re-signing and the Sixers decide not to, then it would be time to question the calculus of Daryl Morey’s decision-making.

The Sixers have Green’s Bird Rights and, as a result, can essentially match or exceed any offer he will receive on the open market. They can pay well above the $15 million per year he got on his last deal, and there’s no indication his next contract will even begin to approach that number.

Regardless of what the final number is, barring total absurdity, the Sixers should happily do what it takes to re-sign Green. He’s an important part of the starting five, and there’s no plug-and-play replacement presently on the roster. If nothing else, his contract could prove useful in future trade negotiations. If the Sixers lose Green, that money evaporates into nothing.

The fact that Green has not signed yet does raise some alarms. He has reported interest from the Lakers and Heat, and there are other teams who would no doubt appreciate his 3-and-D contributions. In the end, however, it’s hard to imagine Philly just letting him walk. He would have to turn down the money.