The Philadelphia 76ers suffered a disappointing end to their season on Thursday night. They fell 118-115 to the New York Knicks in Game 6 of their first-round series. Despite their postseason shortcomings, Philadelphia is expected to be active in both free agency and the trade market this offseason.
The organization will have a projected $60 million in cap space prior to re-signing Tyrese Maxey – who is set to be a restricted free agent – to a new contract. Speaking on Get Up, Brian Windhorst revealed they will target Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Brandon Ingram, stating:
What they are going to be able to do here is sign a player up to a max contract and then sign Maxey. They can do both. The player at the top of their list is Paul George, whose contract extension discussions with the Clippers have not led to an agreement.
You don’t just have to use cap space on free agents. You can use it in trades… The first name to watch is Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. He has got two years left on his contract. There is interest in him extending… Also another player to watch, Brandon Ingram. He had a very poor playoff session for the Pelicans. He’s due a contract extension. The Pelicans have never paid the tax in the history of the franchise.
All three players have won a Most Improved Player Award in their career and consistently scored 20.0+ points per game. Philadelphia will look to improve an offense that ranked just 15th in the league in scoring last season. While George is their top target – and would cost nothing in terms of assets – there is familiarity with Butler. The six-time All-star spent 55 games with the franchise in 2018-19. They famously opted to re-sign Tobias Harris instead of him, opening the door for his departure to the Miami Heat.
Stephen A. Smith labels Tyrese Maxey as the face of the Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid was the 2022-23 NBA MVP, however, he followed it up with an injury plagued season. Meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey had a breakout season, making his first All-Star Team and winning the 2023-24 NBA Most Improved Player award. Speaking on First Take, Stephen A. Smith claimed that the latter is be the face of the franchise, stating:
When you look at Joel Embiid, here’s what I would say to y’all, keep him. The franchise just can’t revolve around him anymore. It has to revolve around Maxey. Maxey is the face of this franchise. Maxey deserves max dollars.
Maxey has to be treated like that star to make sure that the components that are put around the team evolve around him and Embiid has to adjust to that because of his absence of availability due to durability issues from time to time.
While Embiid is a generational talent, he has struggled to remain on the court. The seven-time All-Star has consistently been banged up in the postseason. Philadelphia has not made it to the Conference Finals during his ten-year tenure. He is the only the NBA MVP who has not made it past the second round of the postseason.
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