{"id":294,"date":"2022-06-30T18:35:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T18:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/with-sixers-james-harden-declining-option-six-free-agents-who-might-fit\/"},"modified":"2022-06-30T18:35:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T18:35:40","slug":"with-sixers-james-harden-declining-option-six-free-agents-who-might-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/with-sixers-james-harden-declining-option-six-free-agents-who-might-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"With Sixers’ James Harden declining option, six free agents who might fit"},"content":{"rendered":"
It appears James Harden’s decision to decline his player option will meaningfully expand the Sixers’ possibilities. <\/p>\n
With that said, it’s worth remembering that the Sixers currently have 12 players under contract and can’t simply hand out overwhelmingly persuasive offers to anyone they want.<\/p>\n
Still, it looks like the team should have useful resources to improve its depth in free agency, which officially starts Thursday at 6 pm ET. PhillyVoice’s Kyle Neubec<\/a>k reported the Sixers expect to have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (approximately $10.5 million<\/a>), the bi-annual exception (about $4.1 million), and \u201csome wiggle room for sign-and-trades.\u201d <\/p>\n We don’t know what the exact figures of Harden’s new deal will be, but all of the above reinforces the 32-year-old guard’s willingness to take a substantial pay cut to help the team add quality free agents. Harden’s option for the 2022-23 season was approximately $47.4 million.<\/p>\n So, which players might be reasonable Sixers targets? <\/p>\n The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein are among those who have reported on the Sixers’ interest in Tucker. We’ll dive more into his fit with the Sixers should the team ultimately sign him, but for now it’s sufficient to say the 37-year-old’s comfort alongside Harden, tenacious defense on star scorers, and ability to play center are positives he’ d bring to the table. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Asked hours after shipping out Danny Green last week in a trade for De’Anthony Melton about where the Sixers stood on the wing, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey kept it simple.<\/p>\n \u201cWe might need another wing,\u201d Morey said.<\/p>\n Like Tucker, House started next to Harden on Morey’s Rockets. He earned a rotation spot on the Jazz late last season and averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per 36 minutes. The best version of House is a player that makes good things happen \u2014 deflections, blocks, miscellaneous energy plays \u2014 while also blending in nicely alongside stars. <\/p>\n The Hornets extended a $2.2 million qualifying offer to Martin, making him a restricted free agent. <\/p>\n The 26-year-old wing would be a similar addition to Melton in that he’s got a track record of forcing turnovers well and is perhaps poised to develop further. He’s not a high-volume three-point shooter, though Martin made a dramatic efficiency leap last season, hitting 38.4 percent of his triples. <\/p>\nPJ Tucker <\/b><\/h3>\n
Daniel House Jr. <\/b><\/h3>\n
Cody Martin<\/b> <\/h3>\n
Juan Toscano-Anderson <\/b><\/h3>\n