![]() ![]() ![]() The Eagles released their first (unofficial) depth chart of the year: All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM. Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. But it's a promising sign that the front office already has an eye on the future as well given the potential bench-depth issues looming next offseason. Harden, Embiid and the Sixers' coaching staff should fully be in win-now mode this year. Fliers on players such as McCaw, McClung and Smith are even lower-odds propositions, but hitting on any one of them could help the Sixers replenish their bench depth after this season. Maxey is emblematic of how one major hit outside of the NBA draft lottery can change the entire trajectory of a franchise. While most of them only had a cup of coffee in the NBA-we'll always remember you, Henry Sims-Robert Covington eventually became a key component of the trade package for Jimmy Butler. If anything, this strategy harkens back to the early-Process ethos of churning through undrafted free agents to find hidden gems. Taking a low-risk swing on them is well worth it on the off chance that one or more of them do eventually pan out. There's a real chance that none of McCaw, McClung and Smith latch on with the Sixers. The Sixers are prioritizing shooting, toughness and two-way players as they build around Embiid, Harden and Maxey, so McCaw, McClung and Smith should have a clear idea of what skills they need to demonstrate this season, too. Getting those three into the Blue Coats program will give the Sixers a longer look at whether any of them could develop into NBA rotation players down the line. In 29 games (including five starts), he averaged 8.5 points and 5.7. Smith likewise went undrafted last season, but he spent most of the years with the Toronto Raptors' G League affiliate, the Raptors 905. He spent most of his time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, where he averaged 21.0 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 34.7 minutes per game en route to the G League Rookie of the Year award. McClung went undrafted in the 2021 draft, but he latched on with both the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls for brief stints last season. ![]() The 25-year-old played 17 games with the Blue Coats this past season, averaging 6.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 three-pointers in 25.6 minutes per game. McCaw is a five-year veteran who won championships during each of his first three NBA seasons with the Golden State Warriors (2016-18) and Toronto Raptors (2018-19). That's why it bodes well that they're already using preseason roster spots to take fliers on some potential rotation options in future years. That may leave them with only the $7.0 million taxpayer mid-level exception and veteran-minimum contracts to round out their roster behind Harden, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris. The Sixers already traded away their unprotected 2023 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in the deal that landed them Harden in February, too. With harsher luxury-tax penalties potentially lurking in the league's next collective bargaining agreement, it may be financially prohibitive to re-sign every one of their bench players who becomes a free agent next summer. If Harden re-signs with the Sixers on a max contract next offseason, they'll already be flirting with luxury-tax territory despite having only eight players under contract. Regardless, he doesn't appear likely to leave Philadelphia next summer either.įinancial considerations could cause the Sixers to churn through their back-of-the-rotation roster spots, though. He has a $35.6 million player option that he could look to decline next summer-particularly if he has a bounce-back year in 2022-23-in favor of a longer-term contract. ![]() The Sixers do have most of their key players locked up through at least 2023-24 other than James Harden. ![]()
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