The Philadelphia 76ers do not have a lot of time left to maintain their current roster. With their two-way players getting close to reaching their appearance limit with the team, the front office is left with no other choice but to axe one of the more dispensable players on the roster. But to be quite frank, there really is no other name to cut ties with than Eric Gordon.
Gordon, who has barely even sniffed the court this season, is the player who is most likely to get jettisoned from the team soon. As mapped out by Spotrac’s Keith Smith in this post, as of writing, the 76ers only have 12 games left where both Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker can be activated on the same game. That is essentially a deadline for the team to start making those inevitable and highly needed roster cuts.
Barlow and Walker, who are both on two-way deals, have emerged as important pieces for this 76ers squad. The former has even become an entrenched starter for the team, while the latter has been more than serviceable as a plug-and-play piece off the bench. Clearly, Philly cannot afford to lose them on their regular roster.
The 76ers have to part ways with Eric Gordon as roster deadline brings the pressure
Barlow in particular has bcome so important to this team’s dynamic on both ends that it is simply unfathomable to imagine the front office not pulling off the required financial gymnastics to get his current deal converted into a standard, multi-year contract.
Walker is admittedly more of a question mark in that regard, but with the 76ers still not having Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford back, it would make a lot of sense for them to keep such a malleable defender on the roster as an affordable depth piece.
Of course, that would entail an exit for Gordon (and probably another player). He has long overstayed his welcome in Philly, and while he is theoretically nice to have as an emergency shooter, there is no allure to continuing to play house for such a one-trick pony. No offense to the veteran, but his otherwise impressive career is already on life support and the 76ers have no reason to be the ones continuing to pump oxygen.
The front office will probably try to trade Gordon first, although it is tough to envision any team registering any real interest in him without the 76ers sweetening the pot. If that door closes, then the waiver wire will inevitably see a new face in the form of the veteran guard.