NBA Free Agency 2020: 5 offseason targets for the Philadelphia 76ers

1. Wesley Matthews, SG

The Milwaukee Bucks underwent a massive overhaul Monday night. They agreed to send Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and a cascade of draft picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for Jrue Holiday, and they’re sending Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova to the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic.

That begs the question of whether Wesley Matthews still factors into their plans moving forward.

Matthews plans to decline his $2.7 million player option to become a free agent, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Los Angeles Lakers “have interest” in signing him to replace Danny Green, whom they’re sending to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a package for Dennis Schroder, per Marc Stein of the New York Times.

The Sixers may struggle to outbid the defending champions, particularly since the Lakers are likely to have the $9.3 million non-taxpayer MLE rather than the $5.7 million taxpayer MLE. But if the Lakers decide to turn their attention elsewhere, the Sixers should give Matthews a call.

Although the 34-year-old averaged only 7.4 points and shot 39.6 percent overall in 67 starts with the Bucks this past season, he took a career-high 70.4 percent of his shots from deep. He’s a career 38.1 percent 3-point shooter who also isn’t a liability on defense, which would make him a valuable two-way addition to the Sixers’ backcourt.

The Bucks signed Matthews to a two-year minimum contract with a second-year player option, so he might not even command the Sixers’ full MLE. But if other contenders are only offering him a minimum deal, the Sixers could divide their MLE and offer him a part of it to increase his financial incentive to sign with them.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac.

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