“Here today and gone tomorrow” is a phrase that could ever-so-consistently be accurate when describing the Philadelphia 76ers and their efforts to constantly produce a roster that’s a bit different than it was soon before.
This continues to be the case, as the Sixers have now waived their recently acquired center, JaVale McGee, who played only six games with Philadelphia after being brought in as a part of a trade with the Denver Nuggets that was built around a future first round draft pick.
Sam Amick of USA Today Sports was first to report the news:
"“The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to waive center JaVale McGee in time for him to sign with a playoff team, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because the decision had not been announced.”"
Rumors had been swirling throughout the day as to where both sides stood on the matter, and ESPN’s Marc Stein reported hours before the deadline that McGee getting his buyout before midnight was “unlikely.”
JaVale McGee update with five hours & change to go before NBA's playoff eligibility deadline: One source terms buyout tonight as "unlikely"
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 1, 2015
A similar, but conflicting story to the final outcome surfaced early Sunday by Keith Pompey of Philly.com, suggesting that McGee wasn’t in favor of being bought out by the Sixers:
"“Not on my part, it’s not true,” McGee said of the report before Sunday’s game against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “They might be talking to somebody. But the people I talked to, I haven’t [heard anything]. And I know nothing about it.”"
Upon McGee’s arrival in Philadelphia, he also made it known that he didn’t wish to receive a buyout and was looking forward to becoming a mentor to the Sixers’ young post presences of the future, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid.
As expected, the money McGee was owed – $11.25 million this season and $12 million next season – will still be owed to the 7’0″, 270-pound center, which makes this buyout a win-win for McGee, who gets the luxury of getting paid and not having to suffer through the remainder of the Sixers’ schedule as the losses pile up.
Considering the acquisition of McGee was one of Philadelphia’s trade deadline day attempts to inch closer to the salary floor requirements, paying a player such a large sum on the books, especially one who contributed only 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.2 minutes of action in six games with the Sixers, isn’t something that would come across as very appealing to a bottom-feeding team with their focus on the future.
If McGee is able to clear his waivers, he’ll be able to sign with the team of his choice, which could very likely be a playoff team with the need for some added sized and athleticism in the paint, due to McGee being waived before the deadline for players to compete in the postseason.
As for the Sixers: question marks continue to swirl surrounding their frontcourt. Noel’s minutes are a guarantee, but who fills the role of assuming the vacant minutes in the paint in completely up in the air.
Thomas Robinson has averaged 8.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in 17 minutes per game during his three games with Philadelphia. But Henry Sims has become familiar with the bench during the last two games, playing only 15 total minutes, while Furkan Aldemir has clocked on 17 minutes in the Sixers’ last 14 games.
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