July 01, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Tyrese Maxey just became teammates with one of his good friends.
We have a Sixers mailbag every Tuesday here, but usually I choose three questions and answer them in pretty significant depth. But as the NBA experiences total chaos in the opening hours of free agency, there are many more questions than usual.
This time around, I am going to answer as many questions as I can. Time for some rapid fire!
From @rcrotty.bsky.social: Trendon Watford? Thoughts?
Guerschon Yabusele is headed to the New York Knicks, and while retaining the 29-year-old would have been among my top priorities, Watford would have been one of my primary targets with the taxpayer's mid-level exception to replace Yabusele in the event he was departing.
Instead, the Sixers nabbed the 24-year-old Watford on a two-year deal at the veteran's minimum. Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has had massive success with minimum pacts since arriving in Philadelphia, and Watford has a real chance to be another hit. Watford is an ideal fit positionally as a 6-foot-9 power forward, but he possesses unique ball skills for someone of that size. Watford can initiate offense and has a knack for creating shots for his teammates – one of which will now be his good friend Tyrese Maxey.
Watford has a chance to be an important part of the Sixers' rotation. To get that player on a two-year minimum deal is a win. If there is not a player option in the second year, being able to keep Watford for two seasons would significantly aid the team's ability to eventually re-sign him – unlike Yabusele, whose stellar season with the Sixers is shaping up to be his lone campaign in Philadelphia because he became a non-Bird free agent after playing on a one-year deal.
From @FanSince09: Grimes gone you think?
I remain extremely confident that Quentin Grimes will not be gone, especially as the very little cap space around the NBA has dwindled. The Brooklyn Nets lost a ton of money swapping Cameron Johnson for Michael Porter Jr. and the Detroit Pistons are focused on many non-Grimes pursuits.
That does not mean Grimes will ink a new deal shortly. Players naturally do not like to accept offers they know are below their market value, and the Sixers have no reason to make Grimes an offer commensurate with his production because that kind of money is not out there for him. This process dragging out for a while would not shock me at all, but Grimes leaving the Sixers hanging would.
From @CommodoreSays: Who starts at the 4 on Opening Night?
Watford is the team's top power forward nominally, but at this rate I would expect Paul George to be the team's starting power forward when the season begins. The Sixers played him there a bunch in his first season with the team out of necessity, and he has the size to play the four against most opposing lineups.
If I had to guess the Sixers' first starting lineup of 2025-26, it would be Maxey, Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., George and Joel Embiid.
From @hallublin.bsky.social: How much does the injury-riddled East motivate the Sixers to try and strike while they can? Also, what does that look like when they're salary constrained to the extent that they are? Do they mainly have to pray the injury gods smile on them for once?
The Sixers have to be motivated to win right now regardless of the makeup of their conference if they are going to continue building a team around Embiid, George and Maxey, and they have no choice but to do that right now. Of course, the weakness in the East can help everyone see an easier path to a return to championship contention. The Sixers can absolutely not afford to make any moves that mortgage their future in any meaningful way, though. If the season is going well in January or February, then talks about making major upgrades can begin, though they have no financial wiggle room for another star-caliber player.
From @mwteller: Do you think the Sixers could get Larry Nance Jr. on a minimum? Also why no Jared Vanderbilt as a trade target?
Nance taking a minimum is conceivable, but my guess is he would only take one with a team offering him a significant chance to be their backup center. The Sixers cannot do that with what Adem Bona showed – as Nance seems to know himself, believe it or not:
Just to name a few players (I believe) are better than the credit they’re given:
— Larry Nance (@Larrydn22) May 12, 2025
Trey Murphy
Aaron Nesmith
Onyeka Okongwu
Max Struss
Chris Boucher
Malik Beasley
Adem Bona
Aaron Wiggins
Kris Dunn
Desmond Bane!
Julian Champagnie
Ayo Dosunmu
Deni Avdija
Bilal Coulibaly
Yves Missi https://t.co/ptJdPXYlD5
Vanderbilt is the ideal archetype for the Sixers in a vacuum, but he is too consistently injured to bet on for a player with three years and over $37 million left on his contract.
From @MikeD55_: Would Jonathan Isaac make sense as a trade target to play PF?
Like Vanderbilt, Isaac presents a significant injury risk, but his defensive output can be so major that it might be a better gamble. Plus, his contract has guarantees that trigger based on games played. If the Sixers want to build a team around Maxey and Jared McCain, they will need to stack defenders of Isaac's caliber.
From @MProcess: Ben Simmons?
I have seen quite a few people comment about how, ironically, Simmons fits what the Sixers need now. It is just not true. A player that operates with the ball in his hands, is a non-threat to even attempt to score, and gets ignored if he does not have the ball is not a good "fit" on any team. Yes, the Sixers could use size and passing in their frontcourt. But it has to come from a viable rotation player, which Simmons is not.
From @ConnorPhillyBoy: Is there a chance PG, McCain, or Embiid gets moved in the next 24 hours?
No.
From @SVallorani: Is there a benefit to salary dumping Drummond instead of holding onto him to package with Oubre for a piece?
As it relates to the team managing its salary cap situation, I do not see a ton of value in dumping Drummond ahead of the season in a way that will change their capabilities as far as roster construction and team-building are concerned. Holding onto Drummond, as you alluded to, could afford the Sixers more opportunity during the season, as his $5 million expiring salary may be useful filler in an eventual deal. Drummond and Oubre will make a combined $13.3 million in 2025-26; adding Ricky Council IV to the equation gets you to $15.5 million.
But, dumping Drummond now would allow them to build a better roster by the start of the season. Morey has often been patient with his roster, never too concerned about how it looks in October. But one of Morey's chief points in his critical self-evaluation at the end of last season was that he did not show enough urgency early in the year, and it led to a horrid downward spiral.
There is not much utility for Drummond on the 2025-26 Sixers. If the Sixers end up retaining veterans Eric Gordon – a source told PhillyVoice there is "mutual interest" there – and Kyle Lowry, who wants to play his 20th and final NBA season for his hometown team, they could have 20 percent of their roster made up of players that they cannot reasonably rely on for quality minutes. That would be problematic given their injury-prone nature of many players on the roster.
MORE: Why did Sixers let Yabusele walk?
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