July 25, 2025
The Sixers have waived Ricky Council IV, the team announced on Friday evening. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Gina Mizell first reported the news.
Council, who will turn 24 years old on Aug. 3, has played in 105 games for the Sixers over the last two years. He went undrafted in 2023 and quickly signed a two-way contract with the team, and showed more than enough flashes to earn a conversion to a standard contract by the end of his rookie campaign. Council signed a deal covering the rest of that season and each of the next three, with no money guaranteed during those future years.
Council's $2.2 million salary for the upcoming season was non-guaranteed until Jan. 10, but clearly the Sixers decided they would rather use that roster spot elsewhere or leave it open. They now have 13 players under contract for the upcoming season with the restricted free agency of Quentin Grimes still looming.
It was difficult to imagine Council making it past that guarantee date given his lack of ability to inspire trust in the team's coaching staff and a particularly strong crop of two-way players behind him. Council's athleticism pops and he has a knack for pressuring the rim and drawing fouls, but he never was able to make sound decisions on either end of the floor. He appeared in more games than any other member of the 2024-25 Sixers, yet his stock plummeted due to his consistent lack of execution.
Council is eligible to ink a two-way deal with any team he lands with. Given there is no guaranteed money in his deal, it is not out of the question that another team claims Council, which would not be meaningful from a Sixers-centric perspective.
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