AVALON, N.J. — The start of the week finds us at the beach in South Jersey, where Philadelphians go to get a little rest and relaxation (and keep count of how many bungalows have been torn down and converted to McMansions).
I saw a few Philadelphians over the weekend, but the only reason I could tell was because they were wearing No. 3 Allen Iverson jerseys.
You want to talk about a team in a hopeless situation?
That would be the Sixers, who are now under the leadership of Sam Hinkie following the housecleaning that included the departure of chief executive Rod Thorn, CEO Adam Aron and coach Doug Collins — not to mention Andrew Bynum, whose place in Philadelphia’s sporting lore has been solidified forever.
The Sixers still do not have a coach, and they have so few players on their roster that they are now the No. 1 team in terms of remaining salary cap space. They have traded their only All-Star, Jrue Holiday, for a rookie who won’t be ready until a few months into the season, and let’s just say that the Nerlens Noel jerseys aren’t exactly flying off the shelves at the team store.
At a certain point before the summer ends, Hinkie is going to have to fill out his roster with some players that cost some money. Right now, the 76ers are $13.2 million under the league minimum salary of $52.8 million. Once draft picks Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams sign their deals, Philadelphia will be about $7.8 million under the “floor,” which means they may be open to taking on other team’s salary dumps if they can accumulate some future first-round draft picks along the way.
Remember, one of the ways the Oklahoma City Thunder were built was when Sam Presti was still running the team out of Seattle, and used his cap space to get other teams out of tax territory (Presti’s best move was acquiring Kurt Thomas and two No. 1 picks in exchange for a No. 2 pick.).
Another option for Hinkie, a short term one, is plucking a couple of the remaining players off this list if they are willing to take one-year deals. (Of the top 25 listed below, eight have come off the market).
That isn’t happening with the likes of Nikola Pekovic, who is meeting with Wolvs GM Flip Saunders today in New York, or with Brandon Jennings, who appears more and more likely to be hading back to Milwaukee under the qualifying offer, then take his chances on the open maket again next summer when he will be unrestricted.
Another few names were crossed off this list over the weekend. For the latest updates, let your eyes guide you to the updates in boldface.