5 Available free agents the 76ers must avoid like the plague

3. There are better options for the 76ers than Tristan Thompson

Notwithstanding the timely addition of Andre Drummond via free agency and Adem Bona through the draft, it will never hurt for the 76ers to add more cushion behind Joel Embiid, especially with the rookie potentially spending much of the season with the G-League.

For a depth piece signing, though, the 76ers should eye big men who can provide a different offering, especially on offense. That means ruling out conventional big men whose skill sets already overlap with the ones on the roster, namely Tristan Thompson, a longtime NBA veteran with pretty outdated aptitudes.

While he’s long been one of the better board crashers in the league, Thompson is an undersized and aging big man who has zero offensive flair save for the occasional manna-from-heaven putaways. The 76ers could be intrigued by what he can bring to the locker room, but the team should at least sign someone who can also viably play.