Another week, another bonus Sixers mailbag! It's time to dive into another batch of reader-submitted questions, with an interesting mix of subjects this time around:
*From @mmmmbrownlee.bsky.social:*As a thought experiment let's say the Sixers just decided to replicate the Pacers' team-building philosophy almost exactly, starting this summer. What would that mean for Joel Embiid, Paul George, the draft pick, etc?
I assume that when you are referring to the Indiana Pacers' team-building philosophy, you mean the organization's emphasis on depth – the Pacers have, at times, used 11-man rotations deep into the playoffs – as opposed to the Sixers' strategy of accumulating as much star talent as possible and then figuring out how to put the pieces together down the line.
The shortest answer possible is that the Sixers do not have enough time to enter 2025-26 with a Pacers-esque roster, even if they wanted to have one. Take a look at the top of each team's cap sheet for next season (if Myles Turner re-signs with Indiana, he will almost certainly supplant Andrew Nembhard here):
Player Salary Player Salary
Joel Embiid $55,224,526 Tyrese Haliburton $45,550,512
Paul George $51,666,090 Pascal Siakam $45,550,512
Tyrese Maxey $37,958,760 Andrew Nembhard $18,102,000
In today's NBA salary cap environment, more and more teams are moving away from the three-star model of roster construction that had become massively popular in the last decade. The Sixers lost one of their final comrades days ago when the Memphis Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic.
Meanwhile, Indiana has mastered the art of constructing a cohesive roster full of players that fit together. Each member of the Pacers brings a different element to the game, but just about all of them add to the general identity of the team, which is predicated upon fast-paced basketball with plenty of ball movement and player movement. Below Nembhard on the cap sheet, Indiana has five rotation-caliber players making between $14 million and $6 million next year:
Player Salary
Obi Toppin $14,000,000
Aaron Nesmith $11,000,000
T.J. McConnell $10,200,000
Bennedict Mathurin $9,187,573
Jarace Walker $6,665,520
Indiana has thrived by mixing and matching a terrific collection of role players on medium-sized contracts around their pair of stars. Turner made just under $20 million this season, and Nembhard made just over $2 million in the final year of his rookie contract. But they are built to be able to handle Nembhard's salary jumping by $16 million from this year to next – and to likely retain Turner – because they have only two max deals on their books and can rely on so many players in the $10 million range.
It feels as if the key moving forward for teams that want to win with depth will be racking up as many valuable players on medium-sized deals as possible. And the Sixers would have to start from scratch in that regard: even if they wanted to do so, breaking up the final three years of George's contract by trading him for multiple effective rotation players with lesser salaries is much easier said than done. It could be done with Maxey, but his salary is far less restrictive than George's – and trading Maxey would also be betting on George as the second-best player on a championship team, which does not seem wise after what we saw in his debut campaign in Philadelphia.
This is a copycat league, and surely teams are taking notice of how Indiana has built its roster en route to the NBA Finals. But it is a real challenge to replicate this model without stacking several years of pristine decision-making and asset management with the specific model in mind.
MORE: What ties do Sixers have to 2025 NBA Finals?
*From @FatherKilheeney:*In a trade down scenario, who’s your number one target for a player we could get from a team trading up?
Dropping all the way down from the No. 3 overall pick to No. 10 is suboptimal, but I think the best player the Sixers could conceivably add asset-wise while moving down the board is Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets. Eason just turned 24 years old and is one of the best defensive playmakers in the NBA as he enters his fourth campaign. At 6-foot-8 and capable of playing at either forward spot, he is a perfect positional fit for what the Sixers need moving forward. If the Sixers want Maxey and Jared McCain to be a viable long-term backcourt, that pairing will need a terrific defensive infrastructure behind it, and Eason is the sort of player whose ability on that end can help hide other players' weaknesses.
Now, that does not mean trading No. 3 for Eason and No. 10 is the best possible deal – it is also far from clear if Houston would play ball on such a framework. One could argue that Herb Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans is just as impactful defensively, and the Sixers would be better off trading for Jones and New Orleans' pick at No. 7 overall (the Pelicans also just acquired the No. 23 pick from Indiana).
Those are the two names you will hear the most often, though I think one of Eason's teammates – young stretch big Jabari Smith Jr. – is a player worth betting on as well.
You asked about players, but I will say that there is a draft pick which has continually come to the top of my mind when thinking about trading down, and it is the Sixers' own 2028 first-round pick, which they owe to the Brooklyn Nets with a top-eight protection due to the James Harden-for-Ben Simmons trade. The Nets pick at No. 8 overall and have three picks in the back half of the first round. If the Sixers could get their 2028 first-rounder back and an additional late pick to slide down five spots, it would give them a ton of flexibility.
MORE: Negotiating trades at No. 3 with writers around the NBA
*From @BoysFanNPhilly:*Draft picks aside, how many players do you expect them to add through trades, free agency?
Let's break this down in steps. I am operating under the assumption that all of these players will definitely be on the Sixers next year:
1) Joel Embiid
2) Paul George
3) Tyrese Maxey
4) Quentin Grimes
5) Jared McCain
6) Justin Edwards
7) Adem Bona
The only free agent here is Grimes, but he will be restricted. The Sixers can craft their offseason plans to ensure last year's breakout player returns, likely on a team-friendly contract.
Then there is a player who appears expected to pick up his player option and does provide value to the Sixers on the floor and is therefore extremely likely to be back:
8) Kelly Oubre Jr.
The following players also have options to return and should be expected back but have less utility for the Sixers than Oubre does and have movable salaries, making them less likely to be back. But the odds are they will return if they want to do so:
9) Andre Drummond
10) Eric Gordon
Then comes the draft, and for now we will assume the Sixers will make picks at No. 3 and No. 35, with both players joining the standard roster:
11) 2025 Pick No. 3
12) 2025 Pick No. 35
Now there are three or four spots left to fill; teams can carry 15 players on standard deals, but the Sixers sometimes prefer to go with 14 to create some additional flexibility.
You are likely waiting for Guerschon Yabusele to be named here. In order to ensure Grimes sticks around, I expect the Sixers to avoid spending anything more than the taxpayer's mid-level exception to retain Yabusele. If the 29-year-old takes it, the Sixers should be thrilled; if not they will likely use that money – up to two years and $11.6 million – to find his replacement:
13) Tax MLE signing (possibly Guerschon Yabusele)
Beyond that, the Sixers have one or two roster spots to fill. Ricky Council IV is under contract on a non-guaranteed deal, but his spot on the team should not be locked in. Jared Butler and Lonnie Walker IV have team options looming as well.
If the team dumped Drummond, or if Gordon decided to go chase a ring elsewhere, the flexibility could grow. Of course, the team trading players opens up roster space as well. But any free agency moves the team makes after signing someone with their mid-level exception will be on veteran's minimum deals. They could retain Butler and Walker, or pick one of them and instead keep Kyle Lowry, whose presence in the locker room was valued tremendously by many players.
The methodology behind carrying 14 players to start a season is rooted in sound logic, and for the vast majority of teams it is a pathway I would endorse. But for the Sixers specifically, it may no longer be the right path given the number of injury-prone players on roster.
So, consider this an extremely long-winded way of answering your question with the following statement: if I had to guess, the Sixers will probably end up making two external additions to their roster after the draft, plus or minus one depending on the option decisions and Council's ultimate fate.
MORE: What Bane deal says about what Sixers could get for Maxey
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