2024 NBA free agency: How the Sixers should exploit KJ Martin’s cheap cap hold after landing Paul George nba,free,agency,how,the,sixers,should,exploit,kj,martin,s,cheap,cap,hold,after,landing,paul,george,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-analysis,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


The Sixers made their big free-agent splash overnight Monday, agreeing with Paul George on a four-year, $211.6 million maximum contract. They’ve also agreed to re-sign Kelly Oubre Jr. (two years, $16.3 million), Andre Drummond (two years, “$10-plus million”) and Eric Gordon (one year, $3.3 million veteran minimum), which means they’ve already burned through most of their spending power this offseason.

From here, the Sixers must get creative to round out their roster. KJ Martin might be their best lottery ticket in that regard.

Martin is an unrestricted free agent, but he has a tiny $2.1 million cap hold, and the Sixers have his full Bird rights. They’d slightly cut into their cap space if they kept him on their books instead of an incomplete roster charge ($1.15 million), but having Bird rights on him allows them to re-sign him to anything up to his max salary.

The Sixers could take advantage of that cheap cap hold to both their own benefit and Martin’s. They could keep it on their books, spend the rest of their cap space and then overpay him on a two-year contract with a non-guaranteed second season. They could later look to flip him as salary filler in a midseason trade.

The Indiana Pacers gave Bruce Brown a two-year, $45 million contract last offseason, only to ship him to the Toronto Raptors six months later in the package for Pascal Siakam. The Sixers were reportedly open to emulating that strategy with Klay Thompson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason if they struck out on George, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Martin could enable them to do a miniature version of it.

If the Sixers had a specific midseason target in mind, they could do an exact dollar-for-dollar match on Martin’s new contract. That would enable both the Sixers and the other team to trade those contracts in a straight one-for-one deal and not trigger a hard cap. If they were instead just looking to add a tradable contract to their books, they could use the dollar amount of the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.168 million), room MLE ($7.983 million) or non-taxpayer MLE ($12.822 million) as options.

The Sixers could try to sign-and-trade Martin if they’re looking to fill that void more quickly, although as cap specialist Yossi Gozlan noted, Base Year Compensation rules would complicate that. Only 50 percent of Martin’s new contract would count as outgoing salary, which would make it more difficult for the Sixers or whichever team trades for him to avoid triggering a hard cap at the first apron. They’d be better off signing Martin to a balloon deal and preserving his contract for a midseason trade.

The only downside to this strategy is if the Sixers plan to hard-cap themselves at either apron with another move. They won’t be adding unnecessary salary to their books in that case. Otherwise, there’s no reason not to do this. They’re going to be over the luxury-tax threshold when they fill out their roster either way, so they might as well go deeper into it to increase their midseason flexibility.

Without Martin factored in, the Sixers can still create roughly $9.2 million in remaining cap space even if they keep Ricky Council IV ($1.9 million) but waive Paul Reed’s $7.7 million non-guaranteed contract. If they keep Martin’s cap hold as well, they could still have around $8.3 million in cap space. Based on the prices for Derrick Jones Jr. (three years, $30 million), Naji Marshall (three years, $27 million) Goga Bitadze (three years, $25 million) and Gary Harris (two years, $14 million), that should be able to net them at least one more solid player.

Once the Sixers used the rest of their cap space, they’d use a minimum exception to sign Gordon, officially sign Tyrese Maxey to his five-year, $203.9 million extension (without a player option!) and presumably use the $8.0 million room mid-level exception to sign Oubre. That means George and Drummond are the only two who are going into the Sixers’ cap space.

The Sixers could also take advantage of expanded salary-matching rules and look to flip Reed’s contract for a more expensive salary—they can take back up to $7.5 million more than they send out as long as they stay below the first apron. Staying below the first apron might be a challenge once they finalize Maxey’s new max deal, though. (Keep that in mind regarding any Dorian Finney-Smith trades you cook up over the coming days.)

They’d be better off spending the remainder of their cap space and then signing Martin to a 1+1 balloon deal with the intention of potentially moving him at the trade deadline. Signing him to such a deal would give the Sixers a way to upgrade midseason that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Again, the only risk here is if they hard-cap themselves some other way.

If not, the Sixers owners should be willing to foot a larger tax bill to improve their new Big Three’s chances of winning a championship. There are no more half-measures after signing George. The Sixers are all-in on winning now.

With some creativity, Martin—and his next contract—could help them do just that.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

Celtics hold off Mavericks for commanding 3-0 NBA Finals lead


Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, left, is hugged by guard Jaylen Brown after they defeated the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 in Game 3 of the NBA basketball finals, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

SCHEDULE: NBA Finals 2024 Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS — Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Jaylen Brown had 30 and the Boston Celtics held off a furious Dallas rally to reach the brink of a record 18th championship with a 106-99 victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday night for a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

Brown finished with eight rebounds and eight assists as the Celtics extended their franchise record with a 10th consecutive playoff victory and moved to 7-0 on the road this postseason. They can win the series and break a tie with the Lakers for most NBA championships with a victory Friday in Dallas.

Boston also improved to 10-1 in these playoffs without Kristaps Porzingis after the 7-foot-2 Latvian was ruled out about two hours before the game because of a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg sustained in Game 2.

The status of Porzingis for the rest of the series appears in doubt, but it might not matter. None of the previous 156 teams to face a 3-0 deficit has rallied to win an NBA playoff series.

The Mavericks almost pulled off a crazy comeback to avoid the big hole — 13 years after the only other rally to match it in the NBA Finals sparked Dallas’ run to its only title against Miami.

LIVE UPDATES: NBA Finals Game 3 Celtics vs Mavericks

Boston led 91-70 at the end of a 20-5 run early in the fourth quarter before Dallas answered with a 22-2 spurt to get within a point with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Problem was, Luka Doncic picked up his sixth foul with 4:12 remaining when a challenge was unsuccessful before Kyrie Irving, who scored 35 points, hit a jumper to get Dallas within one.

Tatum and Brown saved the Celtics from there, with some help from Derrick White, who scored 16. Those three combined for the remaining 13 Boston points to get the Celtics within a victory of their first title since 2008, and just the second since 1986.

In a game that seemed over early in the fourth, the score was stuck on 93-90 for more than three minutes. That included when Doncic was called for a blocking foul on a driving Brown.

The Mavericks had nothing to lose with the challenge, since it meant trying to save their superstar from disqualification.

READ: NBA Finals: Porzingis out of Game 3 due to rare tendon injury

Without Doncic, Dallas managed to get within two before Brown hit a pullup jumper with a minute to go. P.J. Washington Jr., Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. each missed a 3-pointer in the final minute as Irving’s personal losing streak against his former team reached 13 games.

An energized Dallas crowd was ready for its first finals game in 13 years, with Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Mavs fan Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs frequently getting out of his seat near midcourt.

The Mavericks used the needed boost coming off two losses in Boston, taking their biggest lead of the series while running out to a 22-9 lead. Doncic and Irving drove for buckets while also hitting a 3 apiece.

The Celtics answered with a 21-9 finish to the first quarter. Sam Hauser hit two of his first-half 3s — on three attempts — to help wrap up a run that started with four points from Brown and a 3 from Tatum.

Defense dominated the start of the second quarter, Boston holding a 5-2 edge nearly six minutes in before Irving and Tatum traded 3s to start a scoring burst.

Celtics hold off Mavericks for 2-0 lead


Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) is blocked by Boston Celtics’ Derrick White (9) and Jaylen Brown (7) during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Sunday, June 9, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BOSTON — Jrue Holiday had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum made up for a rough shooting night with 12 assists and nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 on Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

Luka Doncic, who was listed as questionable to play less than two hours before the opening tipoff, scored 32 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists — the first NBA Finals triple-double in Mavericks franchise history. But he missed a one-footed, running floater from 3-point range with 28 seconds left, ending Dallas’ last chance at a comeback.

Game 3 is Wednesday night in Dallas. The Mavericks need a win then or in Game 4 on Friday to avoid a sweep and earn a trip back to the Boston Garden, where the local fans are already making space in the rafters for what would be an unprecedented 18th NBA championship banner.

READ: NBA Finals: Celtics stars united as Kidd comment stirs debate

The Celtics won the opening pair in the NBA Finals for the ninth time. They have won the previous eight, and have never been forced to a Game 7 in any of them.

Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, Tatum had 18 and Derrick White also scored 18 points for top-seeded Boston. Kristaps Porzingis limped his way to 12 points. Tatum was 6 for 22 shooting and 1 of 7 from 3-point range; the Celtics were 10 for 39 from long distance overall.

Kyrie Irving, who’s drawn the animosity of the local fans ever since cutting short his stay in Boston in 2019, scored 16 points; he has lost 12 games in a row against the Celtics.

READ: NBA Finals: Celtics’ formula leaves Mavericks searching for solution

Unlike their 107-89 victory in Game 1, when a fast start from 3-point range staked them to a 29-point, first-half lead, the Celtics missed their first eight attempts from long distance and were around 20% for most of the game.

Tatum scored zero points in the first quarter and had only five at halftime, when he was still 0 for 3 from 3-point range.

Boston was still just 5 for 30 from long distance when Peyton Pritchard banked in a half-courter at the third-quarter buzzer to give Boston an 83-74 lead.

Meralco hopes to hold on to 2-1 lead this time around


Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome shoots during Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against the San Miguel Beermen.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Meralco is once again in familiar territory after preserving its lead in the end this time to take a 2-1 advantage over San Miguel Beer in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

What the Bolts don’t want to repeat after Sunday’s 93-89 victory, thanks to the clutch plays of Chris Newsome at Smart Araneta Coliseum, is for another golden opportunity to slip away.

“We’re definitely been here before,” Newsome after his three with 34.1 seconds left in the fourth brought Meralco to the lead. “But the results didn’t pan out the way we wanted to.”

The Bolts learned from the mistakes of their collapse in Game 2, when a four-point lead with 26 seconds left disappeared before ending up losing what looked like a sure win.

Now Meralco hopes to experience something it has never experienced before in a championship series—a commanding 3-1 lead which the Bolts can pull off on Wednesday at the same venue.

It’s the third time that Meralco took two of the first three games of the Finals, first in the 2016 Governors’ Cup and in the 2022 edition of the same conference, both against crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra.

And on both occasions, Meralco couldn’t sustain its hold on the driver seat, with Ginebra winning three straight in each of those title meetings.

‘Team of the decade’

Newsome, Cliff Hodge and current assistant coach Reynel Hugnatan have witnessed those past debacles. All of them are hoping to see the current makeup of the Bolts roster to author a different outcome, regardless of what happens moving forward.

“For those guys who were with us during those 2-1 leads and those lapses, those are actually the most vocal in our locker room,” said Newsome. “Those are the guys that have been through it. We had those heartbreaks, and we’re passing that knowledge now, and the things that we thought we could have done better during our 2-1 leads to capitalize on the situation and turn it into a 3-1 lead.

“I mean, this is a series, we’re going up against San Miguel who’s the best team of the decade and they’re playoff ready. They’ve been through a lot of series so it’s gonna be tough to go up 3-1 against them, especially after this win by us. They’re gonna be hungry.

“Again, it’s up to our veterans to be vocal about it. But when it’s all said and done, it’s not about what you’re saying, it’s what you do. We can say anything about doing this and doing that but what matters is stepping onto that court and getting that job done,” he added.

Newsome posted 26 points, leading a starting crew that all scored in double-figures, including Raymond Almazan, who had 15 points before fouling out after laying a dud due to foul trouble in Game 2. INQ