Stanley Johnson would be nice wing insurance for the 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are preparing themselves for what will not be an easy playoff road. That preparation will include watching game film, tighter practices about schemes/matchups/tendencies of themselves as well as potential matchups, and rest and recovery days. The Sixers quite possibly have their most well-rounded squad going into the postseason in the Joel Embiid-era, which is certainly a breath of fresh air despite the overall conversation surrounding Philadelphia and their legitimacy to compete for a championship is a wait-and-see type of scenario. That being said, the team could still use some defensive insurance at the wing/forward position. Enter stage left, Stanley Johnson.

Originally the No. 8 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Stanley Johnson’s ceiling in the league was viewed as a possible two-way role player. And with how past drafts have gone, that would’ve been a nice outcome at the eighth overall selection for the Detroit Pistons. Since I led with that, you already know that I am going to follow it with that was not the case with the Pistons and Johnson. Johnson continued on as somewhat of a journeyman being a capable, physical wing defender with an inconsistent offensive game.

The 76ers should consider signing Stanley Johnson for wing depth

Johnson entered the NBA at 19 and has played for five different teams. The former Arizona Wildcat has played for the Pistons, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Toronto Raptors, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs. Even though he has bounced and may have stories of a veteran player, Johnson is still in his athletic prime to contribute to an NBA team.

In his career Johnson has only started in 104 games and has played in 449, making him an ideal candidate to be a part of Philly’s wing rotation. In those 449 games, Johnson has averaged 19.8 minutes, 6.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.9 steals per game on .391/.301/.748 shooting splits. Again these are role player, a niche role at that, statistics. These are not meant to be sexy or eye-widening. His physical tools do catch one’s attention compared to other Sixers’ wings on this roster. Johnson is almost like a fire hydrant with how solid and sturdy he looks. Standing at 6’6, weighing in at 242 pounds, and possessing a 6’8 wingspan.

Johnson has more size than half of the perimeter players on the roster in Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton, James Harden, and De’Anthony Melton. That fact coupled with his ability to defend makes him a great fit. He is still 25 years old as well. Johnson contains fresh legs to play tenacious, smart defense. He has shown the ability to defend at a playoff level this season as he held opponents to shooting 45.1 percent shooting when defending shots.

The second key part of this signing is that Stanley Johnson was waived on February 12th by the Spurs which is plenty of time before the deadline for being eligible to play in the playoffs upon signing on March 1st at the latest. He is just sitting out of a job where the Sixers could provide him with a spot on the bench and potential spot minutes in a matchup that could use his physicality.

Finally, the elephant in the room when contemplating this signing is that if Johnson were signed and simply added to the roster as is then the Sixers would have 16 players on NBA contracts. One over the standard 15-man depth chart. The team needs to create and that path could be the Philadelphia 76ers waiving Dewayne Dedmon and signing Stanley Johnson onto the roster. After all, Dedmon’s veteran wisdom is nice but this is a team full of vets now in need of some wing insurance. Dedmon is also the only likely candidate to be waived. Dedmon has been traded by an underachieving Miami Heat team and then waived by a tanking San Antonio Spurs team this year, showing his inability to earn minutes at this point in his career. In addition to that, Dedmon is the fifth center this team will use behind Joel Embiid, Paul Reed, P.J. Tucker, and Montrezl Harrell. Since joining the Sixers, Dedmon has only appeared in three games and logged 14 minutes.

According to Spotrac, Dedmon’s deal with the Sixers is $835,014 dollars guaranteed and the cap hit against the Sixers for cutting him would be $580,373 dollars. The Sixers have been trying to avoid paying the luxury tax all year. The team certainly doesn’t want to add to its hefty bill in an ideal world. Building NBA championship teams has never been an ideal world to inhabit where the financials of everything lines up. Johnson would be getting the same contract that Dedmon basically has and Johnson would be another able-bodied wing-size player for defensive insurance specifically.