The Philadelphia 76ers begin a pivotal offseason equipped with the No. 3 overall pick in a deep NBA Draft class and the restricted free agent rights to Quentin Grimes, the most surprising breakout of the 2024-25 NBA season. That alone gives fans a reason to be optimistic, even if the overall vibes around the team are tepid at best.
Daryl Morey is a good GM, straight up. He tends to nail the draft and he has a real eye for value on the margins, even if some of his more ambitious gambits (see: George, Paul) have fallen flat for reasons beyond his control. The Sixers have the pieces to contend next season if all goes well, but it may require a few sacrifices in free agency.
Perhaps the most noteworthy Sixer on the chopping block is Guerschon Yabusele, whose revelatory campaign in Philadelphia has made it extremely difficult for the Sixers to re-sign him.
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Guerschon Yabusele is probably gone in free agency after 76ers land No. 3 pick
Philadelphia signed Yabusele to a one-year minimum contract last summer after a dominant stretch with the French national team in the Olympics. A former first-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 2016, it was Yabusele's first NBA contract since 2019. There was a real curiosity about whether he could stick at the NBA level his second time around.
Well, Yabu more than stuck. He became an essential part of the Sixers' supporting cast, appearing in 70 games (43 starts) while averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists on .501/.380/.725 splits in 27.1 minutes. Yabusele was Philadelphia's best backup center and its most dependable power forward, comfortable sliding between positions defensively while offering invaluable floor spacing and connective passing on the offensive end.
So good was Yabusele that the hopes of re-signing him on a team-friendly contract quickly dissipated. The only real path for Philadelphia would be the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $14.1 million, which is available to teams below the first tax apron under the new CBA. The problem? Philadelphia's hopes of landing below the first tax apron are virtually moot.
The Sixers have three players under max contract in Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and George. Factor in the re-signing of Grimes, which could cost $15-20 million annually, and the player option pick-ups of Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon, and the Sixers are right up against the first apron line — if not over it. And that's before we even get to the No. 3 pick, whose base salary is $11.1 million annually.
Bryan Toporek of Liberty Ballers lays it all out:
"If Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8.4 million), Andre Drummond ($5.0 million) and Eric Gordon ($3.5 million) all pick up their player options as expected, the Sixers would have roughly $177.0 million in salary on their books. That would put them only $10.9 million below the tax line, $18.9 million below the first apron and $30.8 million below the second apron with only eight players under contract. If the Sixers pick up their team options on Adem Bona ($2.0 million) and Justin Edwards ($2.0 million), they’d be up to $180.9 million committed to 10 players, which would put them less than $7 million below the tax line, $15.0 million below the first apron and $26.9 million below the second apron.
There is simply zero chance Grimes and the No. 3 overall pick command less than $15 million combined, which means Philadelphia will at best have access to the taxpayer's mid-level exception of $5.7 million, which is far less than Yabusele will get on the open market — even with budgets tight around the league.
Yabusele's versatility and consistency were a major boon for the Sixers last season. It's hard to imagine how bad it would have been without him. Another team should line up something well north of $5.7 million and feel great about their investment. The Sixers, meanwhile, can hope to replace Yabusele's production (and then some) through the draft. All sides ought to come out of this breakup better off, even if Yabusele's departure will feel bittersweet in the moment.