Sports Talk Philly: Philadelphia Sports News and Rumors

76ers Roundtable: Most Intriguing Games in 76ers' 2019-20 Schedule

We asked three of our writers, including Sixerdelphia managing editor Matt Gregan, to name the three most intriguing or interesting games on the Philadelphia 76ers schedule for the upcoming 2019-20 season.

76ers Bring Back Furkan Korkmaz at a Savings With Better Terms

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By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly Writer

In one of Elton Brand’s first official acts as general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, he declined the third-year team option on Furkan Korkmaz's contract. The third and fourth year, if exercised, would have been worth $2,033,160 for this upcoming season and $3,665,787 in 2020-21. Korkmaz played out the season and was generally unimpressive. After several weeks of being on the free agent market without a deal, Korkmaz and Philadelphia agreed to give it another chance. 

Without being committed to Korkmaz, Brand was able to use the $2 million (less $900,000 for having fewer than 12 players on the roster) that would have been guaranteed to him during free agency in order to sign Horford and Milton to their four-year contracts. The team signed Korkmaz using a Minimum Player Salary Exception to exceed the salary cap and only committed $1,620,565 in salary.

Breaking Down 76ers' Exhibit 10 Deal with Christ Koumadje

We've officially signed Christ Koumadje to a contract! ✍️https://t.co/s1bYt7x0ET | #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/OQJSzMBor5

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 19, 2019

By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly Writer

The Philadelphia 76ers used the Exhibit 10 to sign Christ Koumadje to a one-year, partially guaranteed contract on Friday afternoon.

You might wonder what is an Exhibit 10 deal?  Exhibit 10 is a clause that can be included in a minimum contract to allow for a bonus for a waived player signing with the team’s G-League affiliate in the event they don’t make the 15-man roster.  To qualify for a bonus that can range between $5,000 and $50,000, the player must be on the G-League roster for at least 60 days.  The player can be signed to a two-way contract if one is available.

Breaking Down the Specifics of Ben Simmons' Contract Extension

One of our leaders.

We have officially signed @BenSimmons25 to a contract extension! #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/qut54pQplL

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 16, 2019

By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly writer

You might have wondered why it took half of July for the Philadelphia 76ers to extend franchise player Ben Simmons to a designated rookie extension.  Well, after more contract details began to emerge, it might have something to do with the negotiations that surrounded escalator triggers and the fifth year early termination option (ETO). 

The 76ers can have up to two designated rookie extensions that they sign on the books at any given time.  A third can be acquired through a trade.  Joel Embiid just finished the base year on his deal.  On Tuesday, the team signed Simmons to the other.  Unless the team trades one of those players in the next four seasons, the earliest the team could sign another player to a designated rookie extension is when Embiid’s current contract ends. 

A few of the requirements of a designated rookie extension contract in addition to the amount of them they can have on the roster are:  

• They must start at 25 percent of the salary cap in the base year;
• Players that achieve certain accolades can be eligible for up to 30 percent of the salary cap in the base year;
• They must be five years in length; and
• They can contain a player contract termination clause in the fifth year. This is referred to as an ETO.

How Sam Hinkie set the Ground Work for Elton Brand to Build What Might be the Best Starting Five in the NBA

By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly writer

This journey begins with the start of the Philadelphia 76ers' rebuild six years ago during the 2013 offseason. Shortly after former general manager Sam Hinkie first assumed control of the 76ers, he began a long-term process to build a team using the NBA Draft. 

Hinkie dealt the team’s only All Star, Jrue Holiday, to the New Orleans Pelicans for their first-round selection in 2013 (used to select Nerlens Noel) and their 2014 first-round selection (which became the 10th pick used on Elfrid Payton). 

While Hinkie addressed the media following his first draft, the Houston Rockets seized the opportunity to sign one of Hinkie’s targets.  He later described missing out on signing Robert Covington as “heartbreaking”.  He failed to lock in Covington as soon as the draft concluded and his subsequent delay left Houston an opening to ink Covington to a three-year contract. 

With Covington under contract with the Rockets organization, Philadelphia had its sights set on the 2014 draft.  Having already selected Joel Embiid with the 3rd pick, the 76ers exploited the infatuation that the Orlando Magic showed point guard Elfrid Payton from Louisiana-Lafayette by selecting him two picks before Orlando had a chance.  This maneuver is not entirely uncommon in the NBA.  If a team shows too much of their hand prior to the draft, another team can hijack the player and pry an asset away from the team in the process.  This occurred most recently in the 2019 Rookie draft when draft veteran Danny Ainge and the Celtics snagged Matisse Thybulle with the 20^th pick and forced Philadelphia to part with the 24^th and an early second-round pick to in a trade to obtain his rights.  As a side bonus to the additional compensation, players selected later in the first round cost less money over the term of their rookie deal when compared to earlier selections.

76ers Finalize Draft-Night Deal with Hawks

By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly writer

On draft night, the Philadelphia 76ers reached an agreement with the Atlanta Hawks to send the No. 34 pick, which was used to select Bruno Fernando, for two future second-round picks and pick No. 57 (Jordon Bone). With the free agency moratorium over and the trade now executed, the identity of those second-round picks and the associated protections are now in place. 

OFFICIAL: The team has received Atlanta’s 2020 second-round pick (protected Nos. 56-60), a 2023 second-round selection and the draft rights to the No. 57 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft (Jordan Bone) in exchange for the draft rights to the No. 34 overall pick (Bruno Fernando).

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 7, 2019

Now armed with four second-round picks in 2020, three of which are coming from projected lottery teams, Philadelphia is armed with enough ammunition to trade back into the first round of next year's NBA Draft. The 76ers currently don’t project to be a part of the first round due to having included their own pick in the mid-season deal to the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire Tobias Harris and Oklahoma City’s pick likely not conveying.  

 

Fallout From the OKC/LAC Trade Felt in Philadelphia

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By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly Staff

With reports of Kawhi Leonard signing with the Los Angeles Clippers and Paul George shocking the NBA last night by quietly requesting and receiving a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Clippers, the Philadelphia 76ers face the likelihood of being without a first-round pick in the 2020 draft. 

As part of the acquisition of Tobias Harris, the team sent their own (lottery protected) 2020 pick to the Clippers.  With Philadelphia’s overhaul this offseason, the prospects of finding them in the lottery seem unlikely, so this selection is bound to the Clippers in that event unless it gets traded prior to June.

When the team dealt Markelle Fultz to the Orlando Magic at the deadline, they reacquired the Thunders top-20 protected 2020 first rounder in the process.

How the 76ers Were Able to Maximize Their Cap Space

By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly writer

Just like packing a suitcase, the Philadelphia 76ers maximized their cap space during free agency by executing contracts in a certain order.

After shedding Jonathon Simmons’s contract during the draft, the 76ers had only four players under contract (Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Zhaire Smith and Jonah Bolden) going into the offseason making a combined $40,379,769 in the 2019-20 season.  Faced with a decision to be made on their nine free agents, the team carried cap holds to retain the various levels of Bird Rights on their players including the cap hold on the No. 20 pick in the draft, Matisse Thybulle.

76ers Organization Incurs Future Tax Bill to Gamble on Milton

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By Scott Cashin, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Did Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand intentionally incur a significant future tax bill to pave the way for Shake Milton to find a long-term role?

As details emerged today surrounding the structure of the Al Horford contract, it became clear that the organization left themselves an almost unusable portion of space under the salary cap. The $2,272,194 remaining after signing Horford isn’t enough on its own to do much more than sign a player up to seven years of experience to slightly more than a minimum-level contract.  In fact, if they gave Horford the same $109 million over four years and front loaded as much as they could, they could have saved ownership a hefty sum in the fourth year of Horford’s contract. 

You might not think that $1,459,459 avoided in the last year is a significant sum of money, but when you consider the tax bracket the team could be in at that point, the numbers become more significant.  If the Sixers are already $15 million over the tax threshold, that extra $1.4 million would hit ownership in the pocket to the tune of $7.6 million.  At $20 million, the additional cost swells to $8.3 million and $9.1 million if the team is at the $25 million threshold.

So why would ownership incur this additional cost when it could easily be avoided? 

It could have something to do with the reported Shake Milton contract.  While the team could have used a minimum salary exemption to sign Milton to the roster like they will do with Kyle O’Quinn and James Ennis, it would have been limited them to offering a deal no longer than two years in length.  If the organization believes in Milton’s future, limiting the contract to two years is shortsighted. 

Sixers fans in recent years have grown accustomed to cheap four-year “value” contracts.  Players like Jerami Grant, TJ McConnell, Robert Covington and, more recently, Jonah Bolden signed team-friendly deals that contained team option years offering the club a low-risk, high-reward “value” contract.  The team was able to offer these deals because they were under the salary cap in the years they signed them.  Milton’s base year salary at the minimum happens to fit nicely within the amount Brand opted to keep out of the base year (only $13,763 less!).

If the team wants to retain the player after finishing the four-year deal, they can offer a new contract in the fifth year using the players Bird Right Exception to exceed the cap if needed.

Without years three and four under contract, if Milton looked like a long-term piece after two years while only having Milton’s Early Bird Rights, the taxpaying 76ers would be limited to the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (MLE) which would result in his likely departure.

As the core of the team becomes very expensive to retain, the pressure is on management to find affordable, complimentary bench assets that gives the squad enough depth to compete into June.  Is Shake one of those pieces for Elton Brand?