Philadelphia 76ers: 3 takeaways from the 2018 offseason

3. Chandler and Muscala are interesting additions

Despite possessing an abundance of salary cap space entering the summer, the Sixers weren’t able to land an elusive big name. As a result, they’ve had to settle for a couple of lesser known players on expiring deals.

Entering the final year of his deal, Chandler was dealt from the Denver Nuggets as a pure salary dump. An 11-year veteran, Chandler spent the past six and a half seasons in Denver after commencing his career with the New York Knicks.

At 6’9″, Chandler has the ability and versatility to play at both forward spots, which is becoming more important in the modern-day game. Last season, Chandler suffered a noticeable dip in his overall levels of production, with his scoring dropping from 15.7 to 10.0 points per game. With the emergence of the likes of Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, Chandler was forced to take a backseat to these emerging young stars.

Additionally, Chandler played through a persistent hip injury at various stages of last season, clearly not ideal at this stage in his career. Unlike the absence of a pure point guard on the Nuggets, the presence of Ben Simmons and his passing wizardry on the Sixers could prove to be a boon as Chandler looks to bounce back next season.

The other player added via trade was Mike Muscala. A prototypical stretch-big, Muscala split his time last season with the Atlanta Hawks at both the 4 and 5 spots. After the unfortunate non-signing of Nemanja Bjelica, the Sixers quickly had to redirect their focus in order to obtain a stretch-big to back up the starting frontcourt.

At 6’11” and with five years of experience in the league, Muscala will warm to his new surroundings after playing for a Hawks team that won just 24 games last season and is in the midst of a rebuilding phase.