Philadelphia 76ers Complete The Signing Of Talented Star
Nick Nurse has said it many times throughout the 2023-2024 season that the Philadelphia 76ers are deep. While they can’t play everybody every night, the head coach is confident that the guys waiting in the wings with inconsistent playing time can come in and make an impact when called upon. Jaden Springer, so far, has proven to be one of those guys. For the third-straight season, the Sixers’ former first-round pick hasn’t carved out a consistent role in the team’s rotation. In 20 games, Springer has seen the floor for 9.7 minutes per game. While some of his absences were due to health-related reasons, he’s picked up nine DNPs in the Sixers’ first 33 matchups of the year. While Springer’s minutes have fluctuated throughout the year when he does play, he’s shown some solid value when he receives enough playing time to have an opportunity to make an impact. Tuesday night’s win over the Chicago Bulls was one of those nights. With the Sixers down a pair of rotational players, Nick Nurse called on Springer to get some burn. By the end of the night, he finished with a 21-minute shift, receiving rave reviews from several teammates, including the reigning MVP, Joel Embiid. During Springer’s Tuesday night showing, the young guard knocked down two of his four shots from the field to collect four points. He also collected a couple of rebounds and a pair of assists on the offensive end. Defensively, he had a steal and a block. The defensive end of the floor has been Springer’s strong suit ever since he was drafted to Philadelphia out of Tennessee. However, Embiid noted that Springer’s offense has improved a ton in year three after Tuesday’s victory.
“He’s a way better shooter than when he came into the league,” Embiid said of Springer. “[It] really hasn’t been shown because he hasn’t gotten a chance.” While spending most of his time developing in the G League last season, Springer put an emphasis on working on his shot. Overall, his shooting numbers have been below average, as he’s hit just 38 percent of his field goals in 20 games. However, in matchups where he plays over ten minutes, Springer has averaged 42 percent from the field, a slight boost when he gets the opportunity to develop a rhythm. While Springer is certainly still a work in progress, his flashes at times throughout the season leave his teammates feeling confident he can take care of business within his role when his number is called.
“When he gets minutes, he knows his job,” Embiid finished. “Just go out and guard the best player, be physical, get some offensive rebounds, and slash, and we’re gonna find you.”
Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. Has Been A Free-Agent Steal, Which Complicates His Future
Kelly Oubre Jr. averaged a career-high 20.3 points per game last season with the injury-ravaged Charlotte Hornets. But when the game of musical chairs that is NBA free agency opened this past offseason, he was left standing when the music turned off.
Oubre eventually signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in mid-September, perhaps sensing an opportunity for a legitimate rotation role amidst the uncertainty surrounding James Harden. That turned out to be the right call, as he could be playing his way into a major payday next summer.
Even before his absence, there was reason to expect regression moving forward. Oubre was shooting 50.0% overall and 37.8% from three-point range, both of which smashed his previous career-highs of 45.2% and 35.2%, respectively. He’s likely getting more open looks alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid than he did in Charlotte, but he also spent a season with the Golden State Warriors and didn’t shoot that well.
Oubre has been a bit more inconsistent since coming back in early December. Across 14 games (including seven starts), he’s averaging 11.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 threes and 1.2 steals while shooting 45.8% overall and 37.9% from deep. However, the team has gone 11-3 over those 14 games, four of which came without Embiid. Oubre has been a key to some of those wins.
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Even if Oubre’s numbers continue to plateau, there’s value in proving that he can contribute to a winning team. His ability to hold his own defensively against Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum earlier this season was perhaps more impressive than anything he’s done offensively as a Sixer.
“He’s been really good,” head coach Nick Nurse told reporters earlier this season. “I think Kelly [Oubre Jr.], you know he’s certainly, he scored 20 points a game last year, I know people say, ‘Ah, you know, it’s empty.’ So, the capability to drive and shoot is there. Again, I think his athleticism, and he’s got a high compete level, he’s competing at both ends.”
That should be great news for Oubre’s future earning prospects. It’s not-so-great news for the Sixers, though.
Since Oubre signed a one-year deal with them, they only have non-Bird rights on him in free agency. That means that unless they re-sign him using salary-cap space or a cap exception, they can only offer him 120% of what he’s earning now as the starting salary of his new deal. He might have offers for the full $13.0 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception (if not more) elsewhere if he keeps this up.
If the Sixers plan to go the cap-space route this summer, they’ll either have to carve out some of that space to re-sign Oubre or hope he’s willing to settle for the $8.1 room mid-level exception. But if they’re an over-the-cap team, they’ll either have to use their non-taxpayer or taxpayer MLE to re-sign him or hope he’s willing to re-sign via Bird rights.
Oubre might not want to forgo an eight-figure annual salary, even if he’d prefer to stay with the Sixers. There’s not much the Sixers could do to prevent him from leaving in that case. Before Oubre does leave, though, the Sixers might appeal to him using Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis.
Portis had a chance to leave the Bucks for bigger paydays, but he stayed on a smaller deal with the likely assumption of a larger contract down the road. One year later, he signed a four-year, $48.6 million deal, which was the most the Bucks could offer him via his Early Bird rights.
If Oubre re-signs with the Sixers next summer in any capacity, he’ll be eligible for a four-year deal worth well north of $50 million in 2025-26 via Early Bird rights. That still might not be enough money to keep him around long-term, but it’s at least an option that a fellow contender used to lock up a key piece in recent years.
Because Oubre is only on a one-year, veteran-minimum contract, he isn’t likely to have much trade value. Any team that acquires him will be in the same non-Bird conundrum that the Sixers find themselves in, and few teams project to have anywhere near as much cap space as the Sixers do.
The Sixers figure to keep Oubre around through the deadline and see how far they can get in the playoffs with him on the roster. That will help inform whom they should and shouldn’t re-sign this summer among their 12 soon-to-be free agents.
If Oubre bounces back to his first-month form at any point this season, he could push himself higher in next year’s free-agent class. That’s a dilemma that the Sixers may just have to confront when the time comes.
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