8 major winners and losers from a frenzied first two weeks of free agency
By Cal Durrett
Winners: Philadelphia Sixers
With around $60 million in cap space this summer, the Philadelphia Sixers got to work, signing Paul George away from the LA Clippers, adding Andre Drummond, bringing back Kelly Oubre, and bringing in Eric Gordon and Caleb Martin. That gives them a much-needed third star who can help carry the offense and defend top scorers.
The Sixers adding several shooters on the perimeter will help to space the floor around their new big three. Plus, they add a terrific backup for Joel Embiid in Drummond, who is capable of stepping in when Embiid misses his normal 20+ regular season games.
With George, Tyrese Maxey, Embiid, Oubre, Gordon, Martin, Drummond, and rookie Jared McCain, the Sixers now have eight players under contract and at least seven rotation players. They will obviously still need to fill out the back half of their roster but that top seven is definitely promising.
Thus far, they have done a great job of maximizing their cap space to build around Embiid and Maxey. Whether those moves will be enough to challenge the defending champion Boston Celtics or the reloaded New York Knicks remains to be seen, but the Sixers are definitely one of the three best teams in the Eastern Conference on paper.