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The Philadelphia 76ers Have Made Serious Offseason Roster Moves in Order to Become an Immediate NBA Contender

Introduction

The Philadelphia 76ers Have Made Serious Offseason Roster Moves in Order to Become an Immediate NBA Contender

MIAThe Philadelphia 76ers have been extremely busy so far during the 2019 National Basketball Association offseason. After losing a heart breaking game 7 in the second round of the 2019 NBA playoffs to the world champion Toronto Raptors they have decided to make some serious roster changes.

That game 7 loss knocking the Sixers out of the postseason was on a last second game winning shot by Kawhi Leonard. In other words, they were not very far away from winning a championship last season, but they have decided to add and subtract players from their roster in order to provide themselves with the best opportunity to win it all next year.

Ben Simmons Receives a Contract Extension

The Philadelphia 76ers wanted to ensure they locked down their all star guard Ben Simmons for the next several years. They did just that by offering the youngster a five year max contract extension worth $170 million­­­­. Although they have until this October to finalize the deal it seems as if it will be completed fairly soon.

Simmons is a great all around point guard. He has potential to become one of the best in the game eventually. He is an outstanding passer finding his scoring threats where ever they are on the floor. He has a tremendous ability to drive and score in or around the paint, and his basketball knowledge on running the offense isn’t bad at all. The one drawback regarding his game is that he is not the most proficient shooter, but Philly hopes that he will improve that part of his game over time.

Ben Simmons' Career Regular Season Statistics

Season Tm G GS MP FG FG% 3P 3P% 2P 2P% FT FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PTS
2017-18 PHI
81 81 2732 544 0.545 0 0 544 0.551 191 0.56 659 661 140 70 278 1279
2018-19 PHI
79 79 2700 540 0.563 0 0 540 0.566 257 0.6 697 610 112 61 274 1337

Four Team Trade Involving Jimmy Butler

The Miami Heat completed a four team trade in order to acquire all star guard Jimmy Butler from the 76ers. League sources are reporting that Butler will sign a 4 year $140 million contract with the Heat. Miami is sending the Portland Trail Blazers Hassan Whiteside. The 76ers will get guard Josh Richardson, and the Los Angeles Clippers will absorb a protected 2023 first round draft pick to free up the necessary salary cap space to complete this four-team sign and trade deal.

Richardson’s Career Regular Season Statistics

Season Tm G GS MP FG FG% 3P 3P% 2P 2P% FT FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2015-16 MIA
52 2 1107 123 0.452 53 0.461 70 0.446 42 0.667 107 73 36 25 35 107 341
2016-17 MIA
53 34 1614 202 0.394 75 0.33 127 0.444 60 0.779 168 140 60 39 65 132 539
2017-18 MIA
81 81 2689 399 0.451 127 0.378 272 0.495 120 0.845 285 231 121 75 140 199 1045
2018-19 MIA
73 73 2539 423 0.412 164 0.357 259 0.458 199 0.861 263 298 79 34 113 200 1209

Addition of Al Horford

The 33-year-old veteran five time all-star center, Al Horford, decided to opt out of his player option to rejoin the Boston Celtics and instead sign a new deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers have granted Horford a four year $109 million contract to help him end his spectacular NBA career with Philadelphia.

Horford is still a very active and impactful big man in today’s NBA. His defense is impeccable and he can rebound and score down low as well as midrange. His presence makes the 76ers one of the biggest and best defensive teams in the National Basketball Association.

Horford’s Career Regular Season Statistics

Season Tm G GS MP FG FG% 3P 3P% 2P 2P% FT FT% TRB AST STL BLK PTS
2007-08 ATL
81 77 2540 333 0.499 0 0 333 0.502 155 0.731 785 124 60 76 821
2008-09 ATL
67 67 2242 312 0.525 0 0 312 0.526 149 0.727 624 163 53 95 773
2009-10 ATL
81 81 2845 467 0.551 1 1 466 0.551 213 0.789 799 189 59 91 1148
2010-11 ATL
77 77 2704 513 0.557 2 0.5 511 0.557 150 0.798 718 266 59 80 1178
2011-12 ATL
11 11 348 57 0.553 0 0 57 0.559 22 0.733 77 24 10 14 136
2012-13 ATL
74 74 2756 576 0.543 3 0.5 573 0.544 134 0.644 757 240 78 78 1289
2013-14 ATL
29 29 958 238 0.567 4 0.364 234 0.572 58 0.682 244 76 27 44 538
2014-15 ATL
76 76 2318 519 0.538 11 0.306 508 0.547 107 0.759 544 244 68 98 1156
2015-16 ATL
82 82 2631 529 0.505 88 0.344 441 0.557 103 0.798 596 263 68 121 1249
2016-17 BOS
68 68 2193 379 0.473 86 0.355 293 0.524 108 0.8 465 337 52 86 952
2017-18 BOS
72 72 2277 368 0.489 97 0.429 271 0.514 94 0.783 530 339 43 78 927
2018-19 BOS
68 68 1973 387 0.535 73 0.36 314 0.604 78 0.821 458 283 59 86 925

76ers Retain Tobias Harris

The Philadelphia 76ers must have been thinking that although they lost Jimmy Butler, they got Al Horford, and they saw a big upside in keeping Tobias Harris with this team. Harris was given a 5 year $180 million contract.

Harris is a very serviceable and reliable starting forward in the NBA. He has nice all around basketball skills, and fits in very well with the 76ers. With him and the other core players for Philadelphia locked down for the next four or five years they should have enough chances to bring a championship back to Philly.

Harris’ Career Regular Season Statistics

Season Tm G GS MP FG FG% 3P 3P% 2P 2P% FT FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PTS
2011-12 MIL
42 9 479 79 0.467 6 0.261 73 0.5 44 0.815 101 22 13 7 31 208
2012-13 TOT 55 34 1299 233 0.455 34 0.315 199 0.493 103 0.752 287 69 32 44 66 603
2012-13 MIL
28 14 325 53 0.461 7 0.333 46 0.489 23 0.885 57 13 8 7 18 136
2012-13 ORL
27 20 974 180 0.453 27 0.31 153 0.494 80 0.721 230 56 24 37 48 467
2013-14 ORL
61 36 1850 332 0.464 32 0.254 300 0.508 197 0.807 424 82 41 24 78 893
2014-15 ORL
68 63 2369 442 0.466 87 0.364 355 0.5 193 0.788 430 124 69 36 115 1164
2015-16 TOT 76 74 2513 417 0.469 80 0.335 337 0.518 202 0.831 510 169 65 40 108 1116
2015-16 ORL
49 49 1610 251 0.464 47 0.311 204 0.523 120 0.784 342 99 47 28 78 669
2015-16 DET
27 25 903 166 0.477 33 0.375 133 0.512 82 0.911 168 70 18 12 30 447
2016-17 DET
82 48 2567 511 0.481 109 0.347 402 0.537 190 0.841 416 142 60 39 96 1321
2017-18 TOT 80 80 2668 562 0.46 183 0.411 379 0.488 179 0.829 437 192 71 35 105 1486
2017-18 DET
48 48 1563 320 0.451 113 0.409 207 0.478 115 0.846 244 94 34 15 51 868
2017-18 LAC
32 32 1105 242 0.473 70 0.414 172 0.501 64 0.8 193 98 37 20 54 618
2018-19 TOT 82 82 2847 611 0.487 156 0.397 455 0.528 266 0.866 645 229 51 37 151 1644
2018-19 LAC
55 55 1903 424 0.496 112 0.434 312 0.523 192 0.877 432 150 40 24 109 1152
2018-19 PHI
27 27 944 187 0.469 44 0.326 143 0.542 74 0.841 213 79 11 13 42 492

Philadelphia Allows JJ Redick to Leave in Free Agency

The Philadelphia 76ers allowed sharp shooting guard JJ Redick to leave the franchise through free agency. Since then, Redick has landed a 2 year $26.5 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. They would most likely have kept JJ, but they could not afford to keep him with all the other deals they have had going on recently.

Sources:

“Ben Simmons”, basketball-reference.com, July 2, 2019.

“Heat complete 4-team trade for Butler”, Lowe, Z. and Wojnarowski, A., espn.com, July 1, 2019.

“Josh Richardson”, basketball-reference.com, July 2, 2019.

“Al Horford”, basketball-reference.com, July 2, 2019.

“Horford leaves Celtics to join Sixers for $109M”, Adrian Wojnarowski, espn.com, July 1, 2019.

“Tobias Harris”, basketball-reference.com, July 2, 2019.