2024 NBA free agency: After aggressive start, it feels like Morey is being patient in filling out Sixers roster nba,free,agency,after,aggressive,start,it,feels,like,morey,is,being,patient,in,filling,out,sixers,roster,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few days, you know the Sixers have been quite busy.

They worked quickly at the start of free agency to secure agreements from big man Andre Drummond and veteran bucket-getter Eric Gordon. They took care of some in-house business by re-signing Kelly Oubre, Jr., who gave the team strong minutes last season, and giving budding superstar Tyrese Maxey a well-deserved max extension. And, of course, they landed the biggest fish on the market agreeing to terms with Paul George on a max deal.

Since we got word that George would be joining Maxey, Joel Embiid and the Sixers, things have gotten quiet.

Almost too quiet.

The Sixers will reportedly lose the services of key role players Nicolas Batum and De’Anthony Melton. They’re also reportedly working on a sign-and-trade that will send Buddy Hield to the Warriors. Beyond that, there haven’t been many rumors about what the Sixers could do next.

That almost feels purposeful for Daryl Morey. After coming out of the gates aggressive, it seems like the long-time executive is waiting out the market, looking for his opportunity to pounce when the time is right.

As of now, the Sixers have eight players who are either signed or have reportedly agreed to terms. Embiid, Maxey, George, Drummond and Gordon will be here. Paul Reed’s deal is not guaranteed and it feels like his time in Philly could be nearing an end, whether it’s a trade or being waived. Ricky Council IV is also on a non-guaranteed deal, but there have been no indications the Sixers will look to move on from the young wing.

The team also has first-round pick Jared McCain and second-round pick Adem Bona, both of whom appear to be penciled in for standard NBA contracts. Factoring them in — and figuring Reed will not be here — it seems like the Sixers have nine players and six spots to fill. As of now, assuming Reed is waived and all the reported deals are accurate, the team will have roughly $8.9 million in cap space to use.

Who they could use that space on is complicated. There have been rumors about a possible trade for Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, but that appears unlikely to happen (at least right now). They’ve been connected to two Miami Heat forwards: Caleb Martin and former Sixer Haywood Highsmith. After that, you’re looking at veteran minimum deals to fill out the roster (a Dario Saric reunion, anyone?). There is also a strong likelihood Morey uses a CBA quirk to his advantage to give KJ Martin a balloon deal for the purposes of trading him during the season, as our Bryan Toporek shrewdly pointed out Tuesday morning.

If the Sixers went that route — waive Reed, sign Highsmith/Caleb Martin to a $6-8 million deal for 2024-25, then fill out the roster with minimum players and went ahead with that plan with KJ Martin — that would largely be seen as a great outcome.

But, Reed hasn’t been waived yet. Martin has not signed a balloon deal. There are also scant details about the Hield-to-Warriors sign-and-trade as of this posting.

Insert Brian Windhorst meme

Much has been made of the new CBA and the second apron becoming the new team-building boogeyman. Toporek, again, has been all over that angle for a while now for LB. The consensus seems to be the new rules are mostly hurting the NBA “middle class.” It’s almost like teams valuing threes and dunks — they want stars and cheap role players.

Why is this relevant? Well, perhaps Morey, with a bunch of roster spots to fill, sees the market drying up for these types of players and senses an opportunity to wait things out. Oubre didn’t sign until September last year and took a minimum deal because the market dried up. That seemed to work out quite well for the Sixers. This year, it feels like more players could fall into this category.

The other thought is that there are still major trades that could take place at any time. There’s been plenty of smoke around previously-reported Sixers target Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. The Sixers are extremely unlikely to trade for either one this summer, but maybe they get in on the fallout of those deals.

Think about this: Jrue Holiday wasn’t traded to the Celtics until Oct. 1 of last year after the Damian Lillard-to-the-Bucks blockbuster. That’s not to say Morey should wait that long or that the player whom he could potentially acquire would be of that caliber. It’s simply to say sometimes a patient approach is the way to go.

Morey came out swinging to get George. Now, he appears to be biding his time to build out the ideal roster around his stars.

2024 NBA free agency: Report: Paul George opts out, Sixers ‘a legitimate threat in luring’ 9-time All-Star in free agency nba,free,agency,report,paul,george,opts,out,sixers,a,legitimate,threat,in,luring,time,all,star,in,free,agency,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


Well, it appears the Sixers’ Plan A is still intact.

Paul George has reportedly opted out of his contract with the LA Clippers, making him an unrestricted free agent when the bell rings Sunday evening. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news.

Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes adds that the Sixers will be a “legitimate threat” to sign George.

The best-case scenario for the Sixers was George declining his $48.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season. Now the team has the chance to woo the six-time All-NBA pick in free agency and offer him a four-year, $212 million max deal — one the Clippers have been reportedly unwilling to offer.

George could’ve opted into his current deal and potentially been traded to the Warriors, who were reportedly ready to offer him a max contract. As we learned with the James Harden saga last year, these types of situations can linger. It’s also fair to note that LA could’ve played hardball here, not wanting to help Golden State in their quest to get Steph Curry another ring (anyone who still has PTSD from the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade should get that).

So, what now?

Expect the Sixers to roll out the red carpet for George when free agency begins at 6 p.m. Sunday night. Geography is not the Sixers’ friend here as all indications are that the nine-time All-Star wing has a strong desire to stay on the West Coast with his family. It will be up to the team to convince the Palmdale native that moving across the country to partner with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey is the right move.

So, what happens if they whiff on PG-13?

Well, Brandon Ingram is still a Pelican even after New Orleans dealt for Hawks’ guard Dejounte Murray Friday night. While it still feels like a long shot, there’s a chance the Jazz could trade All-Star Lauri Markkanen — and the Sixers would be well positioned to give Utah its best offer. In free agency, they could pivot to elite role players, like Denver’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Free agency begins at 6 p.m. Sunday when teams are free to negotiate with free agents. We’ll see what Daryl Morey has up his sleeve.

2024 NBA Draft: Will the Sixers make a pick? Check out our full list of prospect profiles nba,draft,will,the,sixers,make,a,pick,check,out,our,full,list,of,prospect,profiles,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-draft,76ers-draft-rumors-news


The Sixers’ vibes are a little different this season ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft.

At this time last year, we didn’t know what would happen with James Harden. The Sixers also had zero draft picks. Well, Harden is a Clipper (for now) and thanks to the trade that sent The Beard to L.A., the Sixers now have a decent chunk of draft capital.

Going into Wednesday night, the Sixers own a first-round pick (No. 16) and a second-round pick (No. 41). They also have one player on a guaranteed contract (Joel Embiid) and another that is about to receive a max contract (Tyrese Maxey). That means Morey could potentially have 13 roster spots to fill before the start of the 2024-25 season.

But what will the Sixers do? Take a player at 16? Trade back to acquire more future picks and provide more cap flexibility? Trade it in a package for a player? This is likely the type of optionality Morey envisioned when he enacted his cap space plan. Wednesday night’s draft will reveal the first phase of that plan.

Below are all the draft profiles we published at Liberty Ballers over the last month.

Report: Sixers work out former first-round pick Sam Dekker report,sixers,work,out,former,first,round,pick,sam,dekker,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


Well, the day after some team won the NBA Finals, there is a bit of Sixers slop … though maybe not the slop fans were hoping for.

The team reportedly worked out 2015 first-round pick Sam Dekker, per John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Dekker starred for a Wisconsin team that lost the 2015 national title game to Jahlil Okafor and Duke. Since being drafted by Daryl Morey — then with the Houston Rockets — Dekker has been unable to find solid footing in the NBA. He’s spent a good chunk of his pro career overseas, playing in Russia, Turkey and most recently in England. He was actually named the British Basketball League’s MVP for the 2022-23 season.

A 6-foot-9 forward, Dekker had NBA stints with the Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards. He also had a cup of coffee in Toronto to start the 2021-22 season. The Raptors’ head coach at the time: Nick Nurse. Nurse also has plenty of experience coaching in the BBL, where Dekker most recently played.

Beyond connections with the current Sixers team, it is an outside-the-box idea to work out a player that showed so much promise but frankly hasn’t been good enough to stick in the league. Dekker, now 30, is athletic, long and skilled, but his shot has been inconsistent as a pro. He hit 35.5% of his threes for the London Lions this season, but didn’t shoot it as well the previous couple years.

For now, this is just a workout, but it’s easy to see why this is an avenue Morey is exploring. While the Sixers could have upwards of $65 million in cap space and multiple draft picks to move, if they’re able to land a big fish — hello, Paul George — Morey will have to get creative to fill out the rest of the roster. Signing someone like Dekker to a minimum contract would certainly be creative. Only time will tell if it’d be effective.