The Philadelphia 76ers almost have a full house right now, but their current financial outlook prevents them from filling up their final roster spot. Right now, the team is close to the first apron hard cap, and with only around $1.8 million of space below that cap, they are basically unable to sign any player even to a veteran's minimum deal. While that may not seem ideal right now, their roster situation could actually help them be a key player later in the buyout market.
The front office can fill their 15th standard roster spot with a prorated minimum contract starting on early December, but doing so at that particular juncture might actually be a complete waste. After all, more appealing names should be available for them if they wait a bit longer, in order to have a more robust selection of targets coming from buyout situations.
The 76ers are nicely set up for a late season steal in the buyout market
All the rage in the buyout market typically begins right after the trade deadline when players, usually veterans, negotiate contract buyouts with their respective teams, especially those that are already not in playoff contention at that point.
Both the East and the West are much improved ahead of the upcoming campaign, meaning that there are bound to be average to good teams that might bow out of the race earlier than expected. That means that there could be desirable role players or even starters who can make the buyout market an enticing pool to choose from for teams with lofty goals in the postseason, like the 76ers.
Likewise, at that point in time, Philly's brain trust should have a much clearer idea of what the roster lacks ahead of their playoff run. Thus, there is an abundance of good reasons for the front office to simply play the long game and resist the itch to fill their final roster spot the moment they are able to on December.
There are a lot of proven cases where last-minute additions through the buyout market end up being major contributors for teams that eventually won the championship. With more patience and prudence, the 76ers could very well see themselves witnessing firsthand how that feels.
Philadelphia is stacked at this very moment anyway, so the wise move is to wait to see how the market shapes up in the middle of the season and zero in on a more appealing player –– one that would not have been a plausible target if they jump the gun early.
Add us as a preferred source on Google