Warriors’ demise spawned a huge potential gift for the 76ers

While the Philadelphia 76ers managed to come out as major winners on the heels of the play-in tournament, the other teams that failed to catapult themselves into the playoffs now find themselves in a state of flux. After all, what those teams have is a team that’s not good enough to be in the postseason, but also not bad enough to be in the lottery.

One of those teams is the Golden State Warriors, who flunked early in their 9-10 matchup with the Sacramento Kings. The NBA Champions just two years ago could now be on its way to its most transformative summer ever, and somehow, the 76ers could actually stand to benefit.

The 76ers could potentially be in the market for Klay Thompson

An early offseason narrative that rose out of Golden State’s failure to make the playoffs is that this could be it for Klay Thompson and his lengthy Warriors tenure. The former All-Star will be an unrestricted free agent this season, and many are already anticipating him to hit the market with more optionality this time around for reasons within Golden State’s control.

At this juncture, there’s a realistic shot that the Warriors skip over Thompson in free agency. The team already has a pretty expensive roster to maintain, and his declined play this season on a still-major role eventually proved to be delaying the inevitable, as seen in his last game where he simply sputtered and couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean if he wanted to.

If so, the longtime sniper could be one of the most interesting free agents in the market. He’ll likely be amenable to a slightly below-market rate considering his career earnings — making him a potentially attractive option for the 76ers.

Notwithstanding the merits of resorting to re-signing Buddy Hield instead, Thompson offers a ton more positional versatility and covers more grounds, especially defensively. With Kelly Oubre Jr. also expected to depart for monetary reasons, there should be a place for the five-time All-Star.

Hypothetically, Thompson would be far from enough to make the 76ers’ summer an A+, but should the front office hit on their other targets while snagging him, Philadelphia could be well on its way to bannering a more formidable roster next season.