While the Sixers haven’t possessed the means to hand out big-money deals, they’ve still been a bit unpredictable in free agency with Daryl Morey as president of basketball operations.
Morey’s three outside signings during the NBA’s initial free agent frenzy have been Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and Georges Niang.
It’s again fair to classify the Sixers as being limited by the realities of the salary cap, though Morey likes the challenge of seeking the right role players.
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“We’re excited to do that,” he said at his end-of-season press conference with head coach Doc Rivers. “I think we’ve had very good success at finding guys. We’ll have the max resources under the CBA available to us, but a lot of that’s going to be finding the right minimum guys, which I think we’ve had good success (with). I find that to be one of the best parts of the job — once you’ve got your main guys in place, which we do, finding the guys who can fit in. And we need to do a better job. But that is the job. It’s part of why I love being in basketball.”
Will Morey pull off any signings that meaningfully improve the Sixers at the wing and on the bench? Here are seven players to consider:
Otto Porter Jr.
Porter signed with the Warriors last summer for the veteran minimum and has been a rotation player for a team in the NBA Finals.
NBA
What will his next contract look like? The taxpayer mid-level exception is set to be approximately $6.4 million and the standard MLE $10.3 million. A mid-level deal of some kind sounds about right, but we’ll continue to stress that the unexpected is inevitable in free agency.
If the money side doesn’t wind up ruling out the Sixers, Porter’s a big, veteran small forward who defends, rebounds and knocks down three-point shots (39.8 percent in his career).
Gary Harris
Harris was somewhat strangely in the position of being viewed as one of the older guys for the Magic at 27 years old. He shot 38.4 percent from long distance last season on 5.0 attempts per contest, his best mark since the 2017-18 campaign.
Harris is not a good rebounder, but he’s solid in most other areas and should be able to help a playoff team.
Jeremy Lamb
Lamb’s career has gone slightly downhill since a disbelieving Danny Green watched his half-court game-winner in Toronto.
He suffered an ACL tear in his first season with the Pacers and eventually moved to Sacramento in the Tyrese Haliburton-Domantas Sabonis deadline deal this February. The 30-year-old UConn product has always been a low-turnover guy who can make plays as a ball handler — running pick-and-rolls, attacking closeouts, occasionally beating his man in isolation.
Those sorts of skills could perhaps be valuable for the Sixers in regular-season lineups that feature James Harden and a few bench players, relieving the burden on Harden to generate everything offensively. A significant downside with Lamb is that he’s not a strong outside shooter. He went 32.4 percent on threes last year and is at 34.2 percent in the NBA.
Danuel House Jr.
The well-traveled House’s longest professional stint came with his hometown Rockets. Less than two years ago, he was starting playoff games alongside Harden.
House left the NBA’s Disney World bubble during Houston’s second-round series in 2020 against the Lakers after a league investigation found he had an “unauthorized guest” in his hotel room. Harden at the time called the situation “very, very disappointing.” That history would obviously matter here.
On the court, House appears to be someone who could crack a postseason rotation next year on a minimum salary. He’s got a competitive edge and fearless style. Especially when his jumpers are dropping, that can provide a nice energy boost.
Juan Toscano-Anderson
Toscano-Anderson seems to be loved by everyone besides the occasional opponent.
Back in November, the Oakland native irritated Niang and drew the sixth foul on him late in a Golden State win over the Sixers. He referred to himself as a “junkyard dog” after that game.
So yes, Toscano-Anderson would decisively check the toughness box for the Sixers. In terms of more tangible skills, he’s a sharp, enthusiastic passer and versatile defender. He even played seven percent of his minutes at center this regular season, per Cleaning the Glass, and the Warriors were effective with those lineups.
If Golden State extends a $2.1 million qualifying offer, Toscano-Anderson would become a restricted free agent.
Cody Martin
The 26-year-old Martin grades out well in steal and block rates. He’s got useful experience defending stars, too.
After shooting just 25.2 percent from three-point territory over his first two pro seasons, Martin soared to 38.4 percent in Year 3. Charlotte is reportedly deep into its coaching search and we’ll soon see whether Martin is part of the franchise’s next phase.
We assume the Hornets will want to keep Martin, but that outcome isn’t set in stone. Martin’s qualifying offer figure is approximately $2.2 million.
Amir Coffey
We’ll wrap up with the youngest player on our list in Coffey, who will turn 25 years old next week.
As a rookie, the undrafted lefty played for Rivers in the coach's final year with Los Angeles. Coffey had more opportunities this past season because the Clippers were often seriously shorthanded, starting 30 games and averaging 9.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
Coffey’s in a similar position to Martin (qualifying offer of about $2.1 million). You’d figure the Clippers will aim to bring him back, but he at least seems worth monitoring from the Sixers’ perspective.