The 2026 NBA Draft is nearly a week away; the Sixers are set to be on the clock with the No. 22 overall pick in one week from Tuesday, with the second round set to take place next Wednesday.

Generally speaking, most fans view June 30 as the first checkpoint of sorts after the draft is complete, as that is when teams are allowed to negotiate contracts with free agents from other organizations. But really, June 29 is a landmark date, as well: Decisions on contract options are due, from players electing whether or not they want to be free agents to teams deciding if they want to keep players or send them to the open market.

The Sixers have three team options to decide on this summer – and with each one comes more than just two obvious pathways.

In this week's 5 Sixers thoughts, outlining and predicting each of the team's three decisions on team options, then wrapping up with a pair of notes on the New York Knicks winning the 2026 NBA Finals: 

Dominick Barlow's $3,415,000 team option

Barlow is the most important and the most valuable of the three Sixers with team options for the 2026-27 season; in fact, he is the only one the team could reasonably project as a rotation piece. Barlow started 59 times last year thanks to a strong array of role player skills and an extremely clean fit next to Joel Embiid.

In a vacuum, this looks like an easy decision: Even with his flaws, a player of Barlow's caliber entering his age-23 season is easily worth this salary figure, not even $1 million above the veteran's minimum. But that does not mean picking up the option is the Sixers' best course of action.

Unless new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey is significantly skeptical about Barlow's long-term prospects, look for the organization to follow the path it went down with Justin Edwards a year ago: negotiate a long-term contract, and once it gets done decline the team option.

The Sixers will rightfully not officially decline the option until a new deal is locked in; the worst case is they pick it up and bring Barlow back for another year of cost-effective production. But they could offer a modest raise from this number – Barlow's non-Bird rights would enable the Sixers to give him a deal starting at just under $4.1 million with annual raises of up to five percent – and try to cement Barlow as a long-term piece of this puzzle.

Assuming the Sixers were willing to give Barlow that maximum pay bump with five-percent raises, a two-year deal would be worth about $8.4 million, a three-year contract would be worth approximately $12.9 million and a four-year pact would be worth over $17.6 million.

Barlow and his representation at Life Sports Agency will likely not want to cede too much long-term control to the Sixers, but for a player who spent much of last season starting on a two-way deal and has not accumulated significant earnings to date, perhaps Barlow would meet in the middle and sign a two- or three-year deal.

Prediction: Option declined; Barlow re-signs on contract with two guaranteed seasons.

MORE: 2025-26 Sixers year-in-review

Trendon Watford's $2,801,346 team option

Get ready to read about a bizarre loophole in the NBA salary cap.

Minimum salaries in the NBA differ depending on the player's years of service; more tenured players have higher minimum salaries. But to prevent that from incentivizing teams to avoid signing older players, all one-year minimum contracts carry the cap hit of the minimum salary of a player with two years of service. For example, last season Kyle Lowry carried a cap hit of just under $2.3 million on his one-year minimum deal, but in actuality was paid over $3.6 million as a player with more than 10 years of service.

Last summer, Watford signed a two-year minimum deal that contained this team option in the second season. It has a five-percent raise off of his 2025-26 salary, which takes it up to this figure, a hair over $2.8 million. If the Sixers picked it up, this number would represent both his cap hit and how much money he makes in reality. Watford is entering his sixth NBA season, however, and for players with five years of service, the minimum is projected to be more like $2.85 million.

While Watford earning an extra $50,000 or so may not sound like much, it is not the primary benefit of this. Because declining Watford's option and signing him to a new deal then puts him on a one-year contract, the rule regulating the cap hit of his minimum deal would be in effect. So instead of carrying a cap hit of just over $2.8 million, Watford's cap hit would be the projected minimum salary for a player with two years of service, at right about $2.45 million:

The lone drawback of executing the decline-and-re-sign strategy is that instead of being eligible for trades all summer, Watford would be locked into his roster spot until the season is already underway. But that is a minor drawback that in past years, the Sixers have not weighed as heavily as the savings that come against the salary cap, luxury tax threshold and both aprons.

The only scenario that makes sense for the Sixers to accept Watford's option is one in which they plan on trading him immediately.

Prediction: Option declined; Watford re-signs on one-year veteran's minimum contract.

MORE: Gansey, Bob Myers, Jameer Nelson take center stage

Dalen Terry's $2,584,539 team option (non-guaranteed)

Terry probably does not profile as a player the Sixers would be eager to roster, but the fact that his option carries a non-guaranteed salary should simplify this decision.

There is no harm in accepting the option and keeping Terry around entering the summer. If the Sixers truly see no world in which he does not eventually get cut, perhaps the team will be courteous to a player who was well-liked in the locker room. But if they even see the slightest chance that he could earn the team's final roster spot, there is no reason not to pick up this option.

If at any point during the summer the Sixers need to clear money for the sake of staying under either apron, they can waive Terry and it will be a non-issue. But until there is a real reason to cut ties, they might as well carry Terry.

Prediction: Option accepted.

MORE: How Daryl Morey's Sixers tenure reached its end

New York Knicks win it all

Saturday night was a remarkable one for superstar guard Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, whose magical playoff run – 16 wins and only three losses – was punctuated by an intense and thrilling Game 5 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

As Brunson inched closer to leading his team to a championship, the point was made more and more – and as Gansey begins thinking about how he wants the Sixers to look moving forward, he should keep it in mind – there are no absolutes in team-building. Every style of roster construction comes with benefits and drawbacks; the key is not leaning into or avoiding any specific mold at the top of your roster, but being self-aware about the support it needs.

The Knicks are a perfect example. They committed to Brunson being their leader and quickly identified what they needed to insulate him as a smaller guard: strong, versatile defenders. In came Josh Hart. R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were flipped for OG Anunoby. Mikal Bridges fit the bill. Then came the swing for the fences that was the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. Leon Rose, a native of Cherry Hill, acquired all five pieces of his title-winning starting five in one of the most impressive front-office runs in the recent history of the league.

The story of the night was, of course, Brunson. Was anybody surprised that he posted an epic 45-point closeout performance, including 29 big ones in the second half? Very few players have risen their level of play for the playoffs like Brunson in the history of the NBA. He did not win a championship on his own, but he registered one of the iconic individual single-game performances of all time to close the deal.

Guerschon Yabusele's impact on 2026 NBA Finals

When teams win it all, it is always compelling to recall the little things that felt insignificant in the moment but turned out to help set the stage for triumph.

One of the many small steps New York needed to reach this point: acquiring reserve guard Jose Alvarado, a hero in their record-setting Game 4 comeback, from the New Orleans Pelicans at the trade deadline. But they would not have been able to do that without some significant help from one of the Sixers' old friends.

There was quite a bit of local angst when the Sixers let Guerschon Yabusele depart for the rival Knicks. But, as it turned out, letting Yabusele go was the right call. New York overvalued his services, signing him to a two-year contract worth over $11 million, including a player option for next season worth nearly $5.8 million.

As the deadline neared, Yabusele had fallen out of favor. But because of the 2026-27 option he appeared certain to pick up, it was unclear how New York could utilize his salary in a trade to bolster its rotation. Then Yabusele, eager to get back on the court, agreed to rip up his player option. That facilitated a trade between the Knicks and Bulls, sending Yabusele to Chicago where he could lead a barren center rotation. The Bulls received cash, too, and sent the Knicks a player on an expiring salary. That player, ironically enough, was Terry.

New York immediately flipped Terry to New Orleans alongside cash and two second-round picks, landing their target in Alvarado. The Pelicans waived Terry; shortly thereafter he landed with the Sixers.

Signing Yabusele might have been the only mistake the Knicks have made since last offseason began. And after failing to leave his mark on New York with his play, Yabusele did them a tremendous favor on the way out. Perhaps he will receive a championship ring.

Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam