The Philadelphia 76ers hit this offseason with their eyes pointed up for the first time in years. What was the best move they made? And what move do they need to make?
NBA teams often find it difficult to change direction, to shift a mindset from one goal to another. This might be a perennial playoff team forced to begin rebuilding, or a small market team trying to take on the financial responsibilities of being a title contender. While the league is constantly shifting, it’s a hard pivot to change how a team has been run for years.
The Philadelphia 76ers are experiencing that shift this season as well. For the past three seasons they have been purposefully bad, offloading veterans and hoarding draft picks. But this year marks the change, where instead of striving for the bottom the 76ers will begin building towards the top.
Armed with draft selections and cap space, Philadelphia entered the offseason ready to take a new step forward. What was the best move they made this offseason? And what move did they miss out on making?
Best Move They Made: Bringing Dario Saric over from Europe
Two summers ago the 76ers drafted the rights to Dario Saric, a 6’10” forward from Croatia. While the 76ers hovered in neutral at the bottom of the league, Saric put up standout numbers playing in Croatia and Turkey, twice earning FIBA Europe’s Young Men’s Player of the Year award.
With his height and length, Saric has the size to play at either forward position, and his ability to shoot makes him the perfect fit for the modern NBA. He shot 40 percent from the closer FIBA 3-pt line last season, and even more tellingly he shot 93 percent from the free throw line.
More from Philadelphia 76ers
- That escalated quickly: How the Harden-Morey situation intensified
- 3 NBA superstars with legacies on the line heading into 2023–24
- Ranking the 4 riskiest boom-or-bust NBA teams in 2023–24
- NBA Rumors: Stalled trade talks may lead to Blazers, 76ers keeping stars
- NBA Trades: This Blazers, Heat, 76ers, and Clippers swap would alter NBA
Saric is a solid rebounder and has shown flashes of above-average playmaking. While no player can ever be a sure thing before they are tested in the NBA fire, Saric has the look of a really good starter in the league for years to come.
Now that Philadelphia was ready to build towards something other than the first pick in the draft, they had something to offer Saric. But financially it made more sense for Saric to stay in Europe for one more season.
The current NBA CBA stipulates that a player is under the rookie scale for three seasons after they are drafted. If Saric were to wait another season before coming to the NBA, he would be able to negotiate a contract for more than he can make as the 12th overall pick. Nikola Mirotic took this route with the Chicago Bulls, waiting to join the team until he could sign a more lucrative contract.
To come over this season, Saric gave up money from the NBA and from his squad in Turkey, where he held a player option. If he chose not to exercise that option, Saric could have played one more season in Turkey and then come to the NBA on a larger contract.
What Saric chose instead was to join the 76ers and begin his dream of playing in the NBA. Joining the team just as other young stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons begin their NBA careers gives the 76ers a core of rookies with the talent to shine.
By securing Saric’ services this year, Philadelphia not only saves money but allows them to develop the young forward into an NBA player, and brings the day when they will be winning playoff games just that much closer.
Best Move They Didn’t Make: Trading Nerlens Noel of Jahlil Okafor
On the surface, the 76ers are experiencing a good problem to have. They have a roster so full of young talent that they don’t have time to play everyone. Five players 6’10” and taller are on the roster, all lottery picks on rookie contracts.
Ben Simmons is the crown jewel of the group, the top selection in his draft and a once-in-a-generation type talent. His passing ability is already elite in the league, and he hasn’t played a single NBA minute. While Simmons will miss the start of the season recovering from surgery on his broken foot, he is the long-term centerpiece of this roster.
More from Hoops Habit
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers
Simmons’ positional versatility as a 6’10” point guard makes a stretch-4 the perfect fit for this roster, and the 76ers have a pair of those in Dario Saric and Robert Covington. While both can slide to the 3 at times, their best position in the modern NBA is at the 4.
That leaves three players drafted in the top-6 to fill one center position on the roster. It’s hard for an NBA team to find minutes for a journeyman third-team center, let alone an elite talent such as Okafor or Noel. With Joel Embiid recovered from multiple injuries, the 76ers know his upside is greater than either Okafor or Noel.
That leaves Philly in a position where one of those two players needs to leave town, for the sake of both the team and the player. Nerlens Noel is a defensive anchor, with positional versatility to shift to power forward in the right lineups. But his contract is coming due two years sooner than Okafor, and he seems to have hit a wall in his offensive development.
Jahlil Okafor is a monster on the block, already one of the best post players in the league. As a rookie, he dropped 17.5 points per game despite sharing time with Noel. While he has defensive limitations, he is a good player that should have a long career.
But as teams get caught up in the new NBA, they want players who can guard multiple positions and fill a role without needing the ball in their hands. That means the league may put more value in Noel, despite being older and nearing a payday.
Thus Philadelphia is faced with a choice, to retain the youth and unique offensive talent of Okafor to get more value for Noel or to retain the best fit for their team and let Okafor go to the highest bidder. Their choice is a difficult one, but it’s one that needs to be made.
The longer the 76ers hold onto both players, the longer their value is depressed from lack of playing time and touches. If Embiid blossoms into the player everyone is hoping for, they will be even more marginalized. An NBA team has only so many minutes, and Philadelphia has a lot of talented mouths to feed.
Unable to know what teams were offering, it’s hard to be critical of Philadelphia for not pulling the trigger. But sooner rather than later the team has to make a decision and let a player develop in another city. A young player who can shoot and guard point guards would be the perfect fit for this team. If they can secure one for Noel or Okafor, they should make the move.
Must Read: Brooklyn Nets: Best Move They Did And Didn't Make
In the end, Philly has amassed a huge amount of talent and that will bode well for their future. But to hit that future running at full speed they will need to streamline their frontcourt and give the long-term pieces on this roster room to flourish.