No one will really consider the Philadelphia 76ers as one of the biggest winners in free agency or even the offseason as a whole. After all, the team lost one of its most important free agents when it allowed Guerschon Yabusele to basically walk away for nothing. Also, their situation with Quentin Grimes has not yet been resolved.
The fact that the front office found both Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry to be deserving of actual roster spots in the year of our Lord, 2025, also stunned and frustrated a huge chunk of the fanbase. Put simply, the front office has not been at its best this summer when it comes to making moves in the open market.
Perhaps the only highlight of their offseason is getting Lady Luck to smile at them and snagging the right to select third in the 2025 NBA Draft, where they ended up selecting VJ Edgecombe who looks like an absolute stud even at this point in his career. Their drafting of Johni Broome is also a slick maneuver that could end up mattering more than expected.
Yet despite all of those, it seems like nobody has really noticed a rather sneaky addition the 76ers front office made for truly incredible value.
The 76ers pulled off a major free agency heist in the form of Jabari Walker
Shortly after lowballing Yabusele and letting him march to the Knicks, the 76ers quickly signed Jabari Walker, a young and versatile forward who was more than serviceable for the Portland Trail Blazers over the last two seasons, to an unprecedented two-way deal.
Walker landing in Philly to the tune of a two-way contract definitely surprised some pundits who expected him to at least snag a standard NBA deal, but hardly anyone outside the 76ers fanbase really took note of that move.
For now, Walker is buried in the depth chart. But with the 76ers still needing to ameliorate both forward positions next season, the 23-year-old could actually find himself jostling for position to get consistent minutes next season.
The 76ers badly need size and defense at those positions, and Walker can definitely lend them a hand in those areas. As a result, he has a good shot of ending up as a massive bargain for the meager price the front office had to pay.
Over the last few years, the Philadelphia 76ers have executed some really sleek moves in the open market, and if the stars align, Jabari Walker will only validate their prowess when it comes to finding valuable players who do not cost an arm and a leg.