Pierre Jackson and the Shaping of the Sixers Roster

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

News broke yesterday that the Sixers had signed Pierre Jackson to a 1-year deal for a little over $500k (just over $400k guaranteed). Jackson is a player the organization is clearly high on, having traded back for him on draft night after having sent him away as part of the Jrue Holiday/Nerlens Noel deal. Sadly, Pierre had torn his achilles very early on in the Orlando Summer League, and his recovery time will likely have him out for the season. However, the Sixers still wanted to sign him in order to retain his rights and they obviously have no problem going after injured young players to keep on the roster (after all, there’s certainly no win-now mentality around Philadelphia). I do like Jackson’s game quite a bit and think he could eventually be a dynamic scorer off the bench so I agree with the move.

While this news is terrific for Jackson and a nice sign of support from the Sixers, it spells doom for someone else as there will be one less spot to go around when the final roster gets ironed out. Teams are able to carry 20 players on the roster through offseason training camp, before needing to whittle the roster down to the in-season mark of 15 (13 active) by season’s start. That time is often when clubs will waive those players with non-guaranteed contracts. They’re allowed to do the same with guaranteed contracts, as the Sixers did last season with Eric Maynor, but it obviously makes much less sense financially. Here’s how I would currently project the 20-man roster heading into training camp in a couple months.

Guaranteed Contracts (8): Thad Young, Jason Richardson, Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, Tony Wroten, Arnett Moultrie, Joel Embiid [eventually], Pierre Jackson [mostly]

The only possibility to be waived here is Arnett Moultrie, who would remain on the books this season for $1.1M. He has a club option for over $2M the following year that will almost certainly fail to be exercised. Will the Sixers bite the bullet on a million dollars in order to bring another player in or do they think they can get Moultrie to stop smoking weed long enough to become an actual NBA player?

Another possible scenario is Thad Young gets traded as part of a larger deal in which the Sixers don’t take back any guaranteed contracts. More than likely though, they would be taking on at least one player in any such trade.

Non-Guaranteed Contracts (5): Elliot Williams, Jarvis Varnado, Henry Sims, Brandon Davies, Hollis Thompson

I think this offseason will likely be the last for Elliot Williams and Brandon Davies with the Sixers. Davies looked out of place even in this past summer league, and I know the organization loves his work ethic and hustle, but it’s pretty clear at this point he’s not an NBA player. As for Williams, I think the Sixers would rather see what they have in McDaniels and McRae at the wing position.

Unsigned 2nd Round Picks (3): Jerami Grant, K.J. McDaniels, Jordan McRae

McDaniels and McRae would seem to be locks to make the team. Grant showed flashes of his terrific athleticism in summer league, but lacks any sort of refinement in his game. I think it comes down to him or Roberts, Jr. for the final spot with Grant having the edge given that the club obviously saw something in him selecting him early in the second round.

Other Roster Hopefuls (4): Casper Ware, Adonis Thomas, Ronald Roberts, Jr., Sean Kilpatrick

With the only true point guard on the team currently being Michael Carter-Williams, Casper Ware seems to be a shoo-in to come back to the Sixers. Meaning, the other three guys on this list aren’t likely to make it to opening night, unless one of them beats out Grant in training camp, or the club decides to cut the cord with Moultrie.

So be happy for Jackson, it’s a nice story that he’s getting his first NBA deal after tearing up the D-league last season. Know though, that his happiness comes at the expense of someone like Elliot Williams or Sean Kilpatrick having their NBA dream temporarily derailed. The NBA is a lot of things and a numbers game is just one of them.