Usually, our Sixers mailbag here runs once a week, but because of a significant number of inquiries this time around, I decided to go with a bonus mailbag this week. If you missed yesterday's mailbag, among the topics discussed were the Sixers' best potential trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo and whether or not Jared McCain is a more valuable asset moving forward than the team's No. 3 overall pick. You can read about that and more here. Let's get into another batch of questions:From @beeball23: Would moving Tyrese Maxey to SG instead of PG improve his playmaking ability and shot-making compared to previous seasons?In short: probably. Maxey has made enough strides as a facilitator to be a viable starting point guard, but it is well-documented at this point that creating shots for others is not his strong suit. When Maxey has the ball in his hands, he is at his best attacking the rim and leveraging his speed to create opportunities for pull-up three-point shots. But his playmaking has always lagged behind his scoring, even with a major crutch often there to help him out in the form of Joel Embiid.Where Maxey can really become special on offense when he gets going is as an off-ball scorer. The same speed that enables Maxey to blow by defenders with a live dribble also allows him to break free from them when running around screens. His marvelous shooting talent allows him to sink tough shots on the move. And as the point guard of a team often missing Embiid and Paul George, Maxey's skills there were rarely utilized in 2024-25, the most disappointing campaign of his NBA career.Maxey can handle the ball a significant amount for a contending team. He has done so already. But for the sake of his individual production and the overall offensive cohesion of the Sixers, a role in which Maxey's time on the floor is more evenly split between on-ball and off-ball minutes would be optimal. And for all of the concerns about whether or not Maxey and Jared McCain will be able to coexist in a backcourt long-term due to potential defensive issues stemming from the pairing's lack of size, it is easy to imagine McCain making Maxey's life a whole lot easier on offense for a very long time.
MORE: Maxey year-in-review
From @EmbiidAmputee: How close to or above the first apron would the Sixers be if they retained both Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele? Obviously we don’t know the figure for Grimes yet but the Yabusele one would probably be the MLE.Assuming the Sixers make their pick at No. 3 overall, do not make any trades of significance and see Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond pick up their player options, the team will certainly clear the first apron by re-signing Grimes and Yabusele. According to my projections, before tending to those two players the Sixers would project to have about $10-12 million of breathing room below the first apron and $22-24 million of space below the more punitive second apron, depending on whether they want to carry 14 or 15 players on their roster.This is where, once again, the key numbers for Yabusele become so important: if the team can retain him for the taxpayer's mid-level exception — worth up to two years and $11,654,250 — they would have at least $16 million or so below their hard cap at the second apron to retain Grimes, which should be more than enough cash to get the job done. But if the Sixers had to offer more money to Yabusele to keep him — therefore using the larger version of the mid-level — their hard cap would instead be at the first apron.At that point, their only chance of retaining Grimes would come from salary dumping both Oubre and Drummond — very possibly costing the team assets — and then pulling off what could still be a tight squeeze, with something in the ballpark of $15 million available to re-sign Grimes and sign at least one minimum contract.All of this is why I believe Yabusele will be part of another organization if the Sixers' options are to dip into the non-tax MLE or let him walk. Salary dumping Oubre and Drummond simultaneously could be extremely difficult, and while retaining Yabusele would be an exciting win for the organization, it cannot come at the expense of keeping the younger and more productive Grimes. If Yabusele can be retained for that two-year, $11.6 million figure, the Sixers will have a much easier time mapping out their offseason. Perhaps the best compromise is giving Yabusele a player option in the second year of that deal; if he has another strong season and opts out, the Sixers could make him a considerably better offer next summer.
MORE: What will it cost to re-sign Grimes and Yabusele?
From @WillFagan5: What is Justin Edwards' next contract going to round about look like?It will not be for much money annually — likely right around $2 million per season — but the question is how many years it will cover. I still expect the Sixers to decline Edwards' $1.9 million team option so they can come to terms on a multi-year deal. Even if he gets a slight bump in pay next season, the Sixers would be happy to fork over an extra few hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure long-term control. Edwards has become a real piece to value moving forward."Unfortunately, we're in this situation, you know, not-winning-wise, but for him and our organization going forward, you get an opportunity for him to step up and show what he can do," Kyle Lowry said near the end of last season. "He went from undrafted to two-way to getting a standard contract. So it’s just kind of, like, yeah, we don't want to be in this situation, but you find some hidden gems. He's a great hidden gem. He's really good, he's a professional, he wants to get better, he's passionate about the game and at the end of the day, he's just going to continue to get better with this opportunity he's been having."
The Sixers could use Edwards' non-Bird rights to sign him to a deal lasting up to four years, starting at 120 percent of the minimum salary for a player with one year of service, and give him annual five-percent salary increases. Based on current salary cap projections, that contract structure should look something like this:
| Year | Salary |
| 2025-26 | $2,458,189 |
| 2026-27 | $2,581,098 |
| 2027-28 | $2,704,008 |
| 2028-29 | $2,826,917 |
| Total | $10,570,213 |
Of course, it takes two sides to form an agreement, and Edwards' representation at Klutch Sports could angle for a shorter-term deal if it wants him to reach free agency earlier in his career. But as Ricky Council IV learned a year and change earlier — as have the vast majority of undrafted players to ink long-term deals after their rookie seasons — the negotiating leverage generally belongs to the teams in these spots.
MORE: How Edwards accelerated growth by guarding NBA's elites as a rookie
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