When the Sixers concluded a miserable campaign with exit interviews last Sunday, a few people acknowledged that they would have a lot more time than usual to digest it all. The Sixers are used to their season ending in May, after all, not before the second week of April is over.
So, while more than half of the NBA remains alive with the playoffs underway, the Sixers have plenty of time to begin formulating their plans for another critical offseason. The most significant factor in their calculus will be the ultimate fate of their top-six protected first-round pick, which has a 64 percent chance of remaining in their hands and a 36 percent chance of conveying to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But regardless, the Sixers will enter free agency tasked with filling out at least a few roster spots, and they will do so without many financial resources available to them. In this week's 5 Sixers thoughts, a quick look at some players that could be realistic targets which offers a glimpse into the extent to which the team will be forced to hunt for bargains.
Clint Capela
Capela, who will enter his age-31 season in 2025-26, is one of Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey's more successful draft picks. The No. 25 overall pick of the Houston Rockets in 2014, Capela peaked as James Harden's pick-and-roll partner on some juggernaut teams, an excellent lob threat, stellar rebounder and quality shot-blocker who was perfect for his role.
While Capela has spent the last five years with the Atlanta Hawks, his time there could be up with the expiration of his contract, and plenty of teams pursuing veteran help inside will be vying for his services this summer. Capela is not the mover he once was and has had some injury issues in recent years, but is very clearly still a quality NBA center, likely capable of starting for a handful of teams in the right context.
There are some downsides to the Sixers signing Capela; the main drawback is that signing him would very likely take all of their available financial resources, which could make it extremely challenging to bring back Guerschon Yabusele. It would also make it harder for Adem Bona to carve out a role next season after a promising rookie campaign.
However, it would provide the Sixers with some important stability behind Joel Embiid, whose dependability as the team's starting center has never been the subject of more skepticism. This list will not feature any traditional guard-sized players because the Sixers already have Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain under contract with Quentin Grimes likely to return after reaching restricted free agency. Having one of the game's most accomplished screen-and-roll bigs behind Embiid could do a lot for those guards.
MORE: Joel Embiid year-in-review
Trey Lyles
Amid some organizational turmoil within the Sacramento Kings, Lyles could be a quality under-the-radar free agent target for teams in need of a stretch four, particularly after a relatively down season shooting from three-point territory, which could sour some teams. Lyles has made 36.2 percent of his long-range tries over the last three years, but what is more important is that he has done it on tremendous volume, averaging 9.0 three-point attempts per 100 possessions over that same span.
Lyles is also a quality rebounder and provides some good size for any team lacking it with his 6-foot-9, 234-pound frame; his ability to space the floor as a traditionally-sized power forward and a credible small-ball center if needed is valuable to a team's frontcourt rotation. If Yabusele does depart, Lyles could be a cost-effective replacement who checks some of the same boxes with similar muscle. If Yabusele returns but is headed for a role as the Sixers' primary backup center, Lyles could eat up some unoccupied minutes at the four.
Unless Sacramento uses its rights to re-sign Lyles, the 29-year-old veteran of 10 NBA seasons could be had on a minimum contract — and that price point would be incredibly beneficial for the Sixers' salary cap situation.
Alec Burks
While the other players on this list are role players who fit well alongside the Sixers' high-usage players, if 2024-25 taught us anything it is that the Sixers must have contingency plans in place should those stars go down. Burks, briefly a Sixer during the end of the 2019-20 season, is certainly very far from a star-caliber offensive player. But there is upside with Burks as a scorer on any given night that many players don't have.
At 6-foot-6 and 214 pounds with ball-handling chops, Burks could serve as an emergency option for the Sixers when they find themselves in need of an old school bucket-getter. It is very much an imperfect archetype of player, and not one any team should want to rely on much. But it is one that this year's team could have used in order to stay afloat early in the season when injuries to Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George devastated its offense.
Burks is with the Miami Heat on a one-year, veteran's minimum deal this season, and it is safe to assume that will be the price to sign him again. Perhaps one bigger question here: will the Sixers have enough of a role to offer him when their team is at full health to persuade him to return to Philadelphia instead of signing with another team that may be able to provide him with a more stable role?
MORE: Jared McCain year-in-review
Precious Achiuwa
The most significant theme of Morey's exit interview was his desire to surround his stars with players who are young, athletic and dynamic. Achiuwa, who will be 26 years old next season, once swung a playoff game away from the Sixers for that exact reason.
It was Game 4 of the hellacious first-round playoff series between the Sixers and New York Knicks last April, and with Mitchell Robinson injured, the Knicks called upon Achiuwa to help keep the team afloat a small-ball center off the bench. Achiuwa terrorized the Sixers for the entirety of the fourth quarter, remaining in the game because the Sixers had no answers for his defensive activity.
Precious Achiuwa with the clutch block to force a shot clock violation!
Knicks lead 92-89 with less than 3 minutes to play on ABC 👀 pic.twitter.com/g1BkTo9zmJ— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2024
Achiuwa has had an up-and-down season in New York this time around and currently finds himself out of their narrowed playoff rotation. His 6-foot-8, 225-pound frame is not that of a traditional center. But with his effort and impressive athletic capabilities, he fits the billing of what Morey is supposedly looking for as he builds a revamped supporting cast moving forward.
Achiuwa's detractors would argue that he lacks a defined position; his supporters would describe him as versatile. But he is an interesting player, and he spent his first three NBA seasons being coached by Sixers head coach Nick Nurse when both were with the Toronto Raptors.
Dante Exum
Back when Exum was a prized draft prospect — he was selected at No. 5 overall in 2014, just two spots after the Sixers drafted Embiid — he was thought of as one of the league's future star guards. But that turned out to be a massive failure, with Exum flaming out and returning to overseas competition. He returned two years later, joining the Mavericks in a role far more suited for his skillset: Exum, who boasts a 6-foot-5, 214-pound frame with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, is now used in a traditional wing role, which allows his defensive versatility on the perimeter to really shine.
One of Exum's fatal flaws early in his career was the lack of a consistent three-point shooting stroke. But in two years with the Mavericks — during both of which his availability was extremely limited due to injuries — he has posted elite numbers, albeit on modest volume.
Exum has shot a combined 47.2 percent from three-point range across his two seasons in Dallas, though that only comes on 161 attempts. It is abundantly clear that he has made significant strides as a spot-up shooter; to even be capable of nearly making half of that number of three-point tries requires some noteworthy skill.
If he joined the Sixers, Exum would give the team's wing rotation a boost while also being a high-caliber defensive option against some of the league's best guards. As the Sixers move forward trying to see if Maxey, McCain and Grimes can all serve as key components of their long-term core, perhaps a defensive-oriented player like Exum would be a nice fit.
MORE: Predicting Sixers' player/team option decisions
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