By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
We're obviously a day late on this one, but with all the movement in the NBA in the last day or so, this one somehow slipped the cracks, even with how important it is in terms of the cap future of the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo! Sports, the Sixers are "strongly considering" a buyout of veteran guard Jerryd Bayless.
Sources: #76ers and guard Jerryd Bayless are strongly considering a buyout. Bayless, 29, is owed $9M next season from Philly and has a host of potential suitors looking to add a veteran combo man. Potentially useful cap for 76ers to offer #LeBron the max ($35.6M) next year.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 1, 2018
With the Sixers needing to pay Bayless his $9 million for the 2018-19 season, and a bunch of teams looking for help from a veteran combo guard, the Sixers best bet would be to unload the money and use the cap to get another player, whether it be via trade or through free agency. Obviously, LeBron James is already locked up by the Los Angeles Lakers for the next four years.
Bayless had one weird season for the Sixers in 2017-18, playing in only 39 games for the team and starting in 11 of them. Weirdly enough, the 29-year-old didn't play from February 9 through the end of the season, even when he was recovering from injury, he still sat out in favor of T.J. McConnell and later Marco Belinelli as well. It was just obvious that head coach Brett Brown had no use for Bayless in his system anymore.
Bayless has been overcome by injuries as of late, playing in just 39 games last year, three the year before, and in 2015-16, Bayless played 52 games for the Milwaukee Bucks. One thing is for sure, his value as a 10-year veteran in the NBA is huge for a young team just looking to re-build. Obviously, the Sixers made the playoffs in 2017-18, so a player like Bayless really isn't necessary anymore.
If Bayless does want to continue to play in the NBA, it definitely won't be for the Sixers in 2018. The Sixers have just had a tricky time figuring out what to do with Bayless's contract of $9 million. A buyout might just be the best bet for both parties at this point moving forward. It will be interesting to see what teams come out of the woodwork to go out and sign Bayless once the Sixers finally part ways with him.
