The Philadelphia 76ers have pulled off a bunch of flashy moves to start this offseason, causing some of their other moves to have largely gone unnoticed. Case in point? The front office exercising its team option on Dominick Barlow to usher in his return for the upcoming season. However, that decision actually says a lot more than what it appears on the surface.
Barlow must prove himself to the 76ers once again
By choosing to exercise the team option on his contract, which the 76ers handed to him last season to reward him for his solid play as a two-way cog, the team effectively went away from extending his deal. All of a sudden, what stood out as one of the best feel-good stories on the team in the most recent campaign has morphed into a make-or-break situation.
Basically, the team has issued a statement to Barlow saying that he will first need to prove to the front office that he is someone they can build with for the future. The 76ers remain non-committal at this point, making it incumbent upon the young big man to prove them wrong once again, with the team now closing in on actual title contention.
The 76ers quietly sent a strong message to Dominick Barlow
Last season, Barlow came out strong out of the gates and quickly proved that he is way too good to keep tethered under the constraints set on someone on a two-way contract. He started in 59 of his 71 appearances in the regular season, averaging 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and nearly a steal and a block per game in just under 24 minutes a night.
Barlow was a steady hand for Nick Nurse and the coaching staff. Despite his lack of independent shot creation, he made up for it with his impressive mobility and versatility on the defensive end. He was also a good connector, which allowed him to remain passable on offense despite his limitations.
The 23-year-old eventually fell out of favor in the rotation when the playoffs came, thanks to defenses making it unviable for the 76ers to resort to their two-big configurations with Barlow and another big man. That he was negligible outside the paint did not help his case, either.
Extending Barlow was honestly the more sensible move for the 76ers' brain trust, but it is understandable that they are simply trying to play it safe given that they hold the leverage anyway. Hopefully, the young big man can further improve next season and earn his stripes on the team beyond the upcoming campaign.
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