Now that the draft has come and gone, it’s just about time to get started with free agency.
The Sixers are at a crossroads heading into the 2022-2023 season. After years of the “process”, they are left with one piece, the perennial MVP candidate Joel Embiid and a bunch of question marks around him. They acquired James Harden at last year’s trade deadline who was very hot and cold in his first half season in Philadelphia. They have Tobias Harris on a max contract who has failed to live up to expectations and they have Tyrese Maxey who has shown flashes of stardom but hasn’t shown the consistency on a night to night basis to be fully trusted.
Daryl Morey and the Sixers front office have stated on many occasions that they are a win now team. This can be seen with the acquisition of De’Anthony Melton on draft night and the rumors swirling around Matisse Thybulle’s future with the team. The team seems to be tired of patiently waiting for Thybulle to improve his offensive game despite the reputation of being one of the top defenders in the NBA.
After parting ways with Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and multiple first round picks to avoid including Thybulle in this year’s block-buster trade for James Harden, the Sixers are reportedly shopping Thybulle actively.
While Thybulle has been extremely frustrating to watch at times this past season, moving on from a 25 year old Thybulle to bring in a player like Eric Gordon or PJ Tucker is going to do nothing but hurt the Sixers down the road. It was reported that the Sixers were prepared to offer the 37 year old Tucker a 3 year $30 million contract in free agency. Combine this reported deal along with Tobias Harris’ current contract and James Harden’s extension, the 2025-2026 76ers are going to be paying for this in a major way.
Do not sit here and try to sell the Sixers fan base on PJ Tucker, there has to be something that we are missing. Why was Thybulle untouchable at last year’s deadline but all of a sudden provides nothing to the team and needs to be gone by the start of the season?
Does PJ Tucker or Eric Gordon make this team any better than the team with Thybulle on it? The answer is no.
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