June 30, 2026
Rick Osentoski/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Dean Wade is the newest member of the Sixers.
The Sixers are signing free-agent forward Dean Wade to a four-year contract worth $39 million, according to a report from Shams Charania of ESPN:
Free agent forward Dean Wade has agreed to a four-year, $39 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell ESPN. Several contenders pursued the former Cavaliers forward, who has become an indispensable defending and shooting frontcourt piece. pic.twitter.com/VSw15tkITO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2026
Wade, 29, is one of the diamonds in the rough Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey is credited with identifying during his lengthy tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wade is one of the strongest defenders on the market, a 6-foot-9 forward capable of guarding on the perimeter at a high level. While Wade does not provide much in the form of on-ball scoring, he is a career 36.7 percent three-point shooter.
Wade figures to slot into the Sixers' starting lineup moving forward alongside Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Paul George and Joel Embiid, offering some much-needed positional size in the frontcourt.
The Sixers will sign Wade using a portion of the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception, which means they will be hard-capped at the first apron for the entirety of the new league year. That all but solidifies at least one of the team's two primary free agents, Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr., will depart – and makes a world in which both leave a very real possibility, too.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Wade's four-year deal includes a partial guarantee in its final season.
Sixers will have something in the realm of $6 million remaining in the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception. They can use that in free agency or trade (or not). Regardless, they are now hard-capped at the first apron for this league year.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) July 1, 2026
