NBA Season Preview: 5 best asset collections
By John Buhler
2. Philadelphia 76ers
The gap between No. 3 and No. 2 in the best collection of assets entering the 2016-17 NBA season is significant. Boston has great draft picks, but the Philadelphia 76ers have more intriguing potential trade chips over the Celtics.
It’s been a painstakingly rough go of it the last three years for Philadelphia hoops, but the future is blinding bright for the 76ers. The 76ers have 20 players on their roster with only 12 contracts fully guaranteed. Philadelphia is under the salary cap by $19,290,799. If the 76ers want to add a few players to accentuate their young core, general manager Bryan Colangelo can do that.
Looking at their future salary cap situations, the 76ers only have two players on its 2016-17 roster that are not tradable: point guard Jerryd Bayless and No. 1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons. Bayless is the only player on the 76ers’ books with a guaranteed contract through 2018-19. Simmons is untradable because of who he is as a prospect.
While the 76ers don’t have many impending free agents, Philadelphia has many team options coming in the next two off-seasons. The most notable free agent this summer is power forward Nerlens Noel, who is entering his restricted free agency. Noel is one of many front court trade assets Colangelo can ship for a solid return this season.
Five important players on this team have player options coming up in 2017-18: Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, Robert Covington, and Jerami Grant. All five could be traded this season if Colangelo doesn’t seem them as long-term fits on Brett Brown’s future 76ers rosters.
Not to be outdone by Atlantic Division rival Boston, Philadelphia has 11 incoming future picks and only one outgoing. These are mostly second-picks coming the 76ers’ way, but three are future first-round selections: 2017 from the Los Angeles Lakers, 2017 from the Sacramento Kings, and 2019 from Sacramento.
Though Philadelphia is not a playoff-caliber this season by any means, the 76ers have positioned themselves to make quantum leaps on the hardwood in the next few years. If Simmons does become the next transcendent superstar point forward, this team might be championship-caliber by the end of the decade.