Why the Sixers have flexibility to remake their roster around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey

The 76ers still have immediate NBA championship aspirations, even with the James Harden conundrum hovering over the doldrums of the offseason.

Yet Harden’s unexpected decision to exercise his $35.6 million player option for the coming season — and simultaneously request a trade — also puts the Sixers in an interesting longer-term position. They have the ability to maintain flexibility and optionality to use cap space to swiftly remake the roster surrounding reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey once Tobias Harris’ (and, potentially, Harden’s) lucrative contracts come off the books.

And their situation is particularly intriguing, given that the collective bargaining agreement’s new restrictions on the highest-spending teams will make it more challenging to add to or keep together expensive, talent-rich rosters.

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This outlook, of course, assumes Embiid does not turn disgruntled, after he went viral a couple of weeks ago with public comments that he wants to win titles “whether it’s in Philly or anywhere else.” And it requires patience from Maxey, who watched peers from his draft class sign hefty extensions last month while the Sixers wait until next summer to do that so they can take advantage of his smaller $13 million salary-cap hold that does not reflect his value or production.

The phrase “cap room” might cause one to immediately fast-forward to 2024 free agency. The Sixers have only five players on the books for the 2024-25 season — Embiid ($51.4 million), P.J. Tucker ($11.5 million, player option), Paul Reed ($7.7 million, becomes guaranteed if Sixers reach the second round of the playoffs), Jaden Springer ($4 million, team option), and Filip Petrusev ($1.9 million, non-guaranteed) — plus Maxey once he is extended.

Spotrac.com projects the Sixers to have $66.7 million in “practical” cap space, which is enough to add a max-level player or allocate to multiple complementary players. Teams with more projected cap space are the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, and San Antonio Spurs, which are all rebuilding rather than trying to win now.

Free agents next summer include Pascal Siakam (who morphed into an All-Star with the Toronto Raptors under new Sixers coach Nick Nurse), Klay Thompson, and DeMar DeRozan — though superstars such as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George, along with fellow former Nurse player OG Anunoby, have player options.

That cap space, however, could also be utilized in a trade as soon as this season, when the Sixers will be able to absorb players and create cleaner deals without additional draft picks or “filler” contracts. The new CBA’s constraints — including a new “second apron” for teams further above the luxury tax line — offer potential for better players to be available on the trade market.

The most recent transaction cycle provided a glimpse at teams already preparing for that shift by parting with helpful players, such as the Boston Celtics sending Grant Williams to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade, the Miami Heat letting Max Strus and Gabe Vincent leave in free agency, and the Atlanta Hawks trading John Collins to the Utah Jazz.

Though joining with an Embiid/Maxey tandem could be enticing for a star with a desire to play elsewhere, Harden’s own trade request is a big component of how the Sixers move forward.

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President of basketball operations Daryl Morey recently laid out a straightforward approach in an appearance on WPEN-FM (97.5 The Fan), saying, “If we don’t get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, we are not going to” trade the 34-year-old Harden, who led the league in assists last season but sputtered again down the stretch of the playoffs.

That Harden opted in rather than leave in free agency (the Sixers could not have used that salary on a different player) or re-signed a longer-term deal in Philly actually helps with that financial flexibility. But players are more than salary figures and statistical production, and another uncomfortable saga could permeate if an unenthused Harden — whose preferred destination is the Los Angeles Clippers — is still on the team come training camp.

Embiid told Showtime at summer league that he hopes Harden will change his mind, providing the Sixers’ current core with at least one more full season together. Yet even if the most extreme scenario unfolds — Harden holds out for the entire season and is not traded — the Sixers’ keeping his Bird rights next summer has value. (Bird rights are exceptions to the salary cap that allow teams to retain players, usually those who have spent continuous time on the team.)

Morey has a long-established reputation as an aggressive, creative roster builder. ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks, however, points out that Morey has rarely had this much cap space with which to work. Most notably, he used it with the Houston Rockets to sign Dwight Howard to pair with Harden in 2013. But perhaps the situation Morey could most compare to the Sixers’ positioning is when he transitioned the Rockets from a Howard/Harden team to one anchored by Harden and fellow All-Star guard Chris Paul via a 2017 trade.

Though most contending teams are already locked into a high payroll, there are a few recent examples of using cap space to add a max-level player to a core with an MVP-caliber star and a talented up-and-comer.

Kevin Durant’s controversial move to the Golden State Warriors dynasty is perhaps the most obvious, but it was possible only because of the 2016 cap spike. In 2015, meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs signed LaMarcus Aldridge to join Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, and Tony Parker.

One offseason after the Los Angeles Lakers signed James in 2018, they used their bevy of young talent to acquire Davis in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans, then signed key role players such as Danny Green and Alex Caruso on their way to the 2020 title. And NBA star movement is perhaps most defined by “The Decision” by James and Chris Bosh to team up with Dwyane Wade with the Heat in 2010.

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No guarantees come with cap space, however. The Heat and Mavericks, for example, reportedly cleared room in an attempt to lure two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 free agency, but he signed his supermax extension with the Milwaukee Bucks in the winter of 2020.

But the Sixers have multiple paths to retool around Embiid and Maxey. It’s a unique opportunity for a team with this blend of talent, expectations and uncertainty — and a pivotal one for this era of the franchise.