Philadelphia 76ers: No room for Jerryd Bayless on roster

Jerryd Bayless will not be with the Philadelphia 76ers when the season starts. The only question is how and when he will be released.

It could happen any day now. An announcement will be made by the Philadelphia 76ers that Jerryd Bayless is no longer with the team. It could be a trade. Or the team may just buy out his contract. But there is no room for Bayless or his contract on the 2018-19 Sixers’ roster.

There was some urgency to clearing Bayless’s contract a month ago when the 76ers believed they were a serious contender to sign LeBron James.  The team needed cap space to make a James signing work.

When LeBron signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, the urgency subsided, but the roster problems remained the same. There is simply no room on the Sixers’ roster for the veteran point guard, who will turn 30 on Aug. 20.

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Bayless signed a three-year, $27 million free agent contract with the 76ers before the 2016 season. He is due $8.5 million in the final year of the contract. When the Sixers signed Bayless, they planned on starting him as a hybrid guard to play alongside newly drafted Ben Simmons.

Bayless would play shooting guard on offense and guard the opposing team’s point guard, while Simmons played point forward. Those plans evaporated when both players suffered season-ending injuries in 2016.

Now Bayless can’t find a role on a roster bursting with young talent. The role of shooting guard is an open competition between newly re-signed J.J. Redick and the No. 1 pick of the 2017 NBA draft, Markelle Fultz.

Redick is expected to be the starter at the beginning of the season, but the team would like to see Fultz take the job. On the bench, the 76ers have first-round draft pick Zhaire Smith and 20-year-old Summer League standout Furkan Korkmaz.

Bayless can’t move back to point guard, because that position is equally filled with young talent. The Sixers have a budding superstar at the point in Rookie of the Year Simmons. The first point guard off the bench is fan favorite T.J. McConnell.

And the 76ers used the 26th pick in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft to select Wichita State star point guard Landry Shamet. Finally, the team is high on second-year pro Demetrius Jackson, who will probably spend most of this season in the G League.

There is just not a roster spot for Bayless, the 11th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. After starring at the University of Arizona, Bayless came into the NBA with a world of promise after his freshman year.

Since then, Bayless has been mediocre at best, playing for seven different teams as a spot starter.

His two seasons with the 76ers have been marred by injuries. Bayless has been able to play just 42 games. When he was able to make it on the court, he looked good, but not great. Age, draft picks and injury have combined to make Bayless expendable.

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A couple of weeks back it looked like Bayless could be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for veteran sharpshooter and former Sixer Kyle Korver.

But the latest reports are that the Cavs overvalue Korver and want a first-round pick in return, something the 76ers front office will not do.

Don’t be surprised to read in the coming days that Bayless’ contract has been bought out and that he has been released from the team.

Is that the end of Jerryd Balyess’s NBA career, as some have speculated? Probably not. With the 76ers buying out his contract, another team can pick up the veteran guard for the league minimum or close to it.

But the end is near for Jerryd Bayless. Fortunately for him, he has invested well and is set up for life after the NBA.