By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
The 12:01am start to free agency did not quite bring the fireworks many people in NBA circles expected. For the Sixers, led by Man of Action Bryan Colangelo, things were especially quiet. The only real mention of the club from a national media member was this remark from Alex Kennedy (no relation):
I can't say much more, but I really want to stress this… https://t.co/LzWtDK9END
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 1, 2016
Philly is contacting veterans who can help them win now. 76ers are willing to overpay to add quality vets. PHI has $50+ million in cap room.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 30, 2016
Meanwhile, the news which impacts the Sixers most directly concerns one of their reported targets:
Jordan Clarkson has reached agreement on a four-year, $50M deal to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2016
Clarkson could have received north of $60M if he signed the full, Arenas-provision max with another club and LA was forced to match. Great job here by the Lakers to bring back their promising young guard on a very reasonable $12.5M per year deal, especially given the numbers being thrown around in this rising cap, free agency environment.
However, any savings the Lakers achieved on the Clarkson were already thrown into the incinerator with their other free agent signing:
.@WojVerticalNBA: Lakers, Timofey Mozgov have agreed to four-year, $64 million deal.
Live: https://t.co/92ODzkg0ai
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) July 1, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
By nearly every metric, Mozgov was one of the worst centers in the league last season and he’s going to be making $16M per year. The Lakers may have gotten one of the best deals of free agency with that Clarkson contract, but they also signed one of the worst with Mozgov. Don’t worry about LA being too good next season; that top 3-protected pick is still going to be very valuable.
In other news, Ish Smith will be back in red, white, and blue next season, just not in Philadelphia.
#Pistons have reached a 3-year agreement with PG Ish Smith.
— VinceEllis (@AlabamaScribe56) July 1, 2016
Update: Ish Smith’s deal with Detroit is a reported 3 years, $18 million.
The Sixers gave up 2 second-round picks for half a season of Ish and to avoid having the worst record of all-time. From a franchise-building standpoint, that’s terrible. But Smith coming back for that 6 wins in 15 games stretch in late-December, early-January might have saved my sanity, so I understand where management was coming from there. Best of luck to Ish in Detroit.
Finally, a large section of the Sixers fan base can breathe a little either after this news:
DeMar DeRozan has agreed to a five-year, $139 million-plus deal with Toronto, sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2016
With the Bryan Colangelo ties, Many Sixers supporters saw maxing out DeRozan as the nightmare scenario. His inability to stretch the floor, below average defensive skills, and the fact that his ball dominance on offense would keep the rock out of Ben Simmons’ hands all made him seemingly poor fits in Philadelphia. However, DeRozan always maintained he would return to Toronto if they didn’t lowball him, which they certainly did not. Like Dario Saric, the man was true to his word.
Morning has come, and we’re still left waiting what veterans are going to receive one last huge payday from Colangelo. Plus, all is quiet on the Harrison Barnes front. Stay tuned.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
