6 Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception Targets For The Sixers

After trading for De’Anthony Melton during the 2022 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers’ free-agency plans appear to be coming into focus.

If James Harden picks up his $47.4 million player option for the 2022-23 season as expected, the Sixers will have roughly $151.7 million in salary tied up in 13 players. That would put them just under $4 million below the projected $155.7 million luxury-tax apron, which is the line that teams cannot cross in a given season if they spend the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception or acquire a player via a sign-and-trade.

The non-taxpayer mid-level exception is projected to come in at roughly $10.3 million next season. After acquiring Melton, the Sixers would have to trim around $8.2 million in salary to have access to the non-taxpayer MLE and have enough room under the apron to afford a veteran-minimum contract ($1.8 million) for their 15th roster spot.

An NBA source told Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times that the Sixers aren’t planning to trade just “to trim salary to use on [the] non-taxpayer MLE.” That reduces the likelihood of them having it, although they could flip Tobias Harris for a slightly smaller contract (Gordon Hayward? Kevin Love?) to carve out the room they need under the apron.

If the Sixers don’t go that route, they’ll instead be limited to the $6.4 million taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency. The following six players might all fit into that price range and would fill a major hole for the Sixers.

Gary Harris, SG

After a standout 2017-18 season, a litany of leg and lower-body injuries caused Gary Harris’ career to go off the rails. He wound up missing a combined 75 games between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, and the Denver Nuggets eventually cut bait and shipped him to the Orlando Magic ahead of the 2021 trade deadline with R.J. Hampton and a top-five-protected first-round pick for Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark.

Although Harris made a limited impact during his 20 games with Orlando after the trade deadline, he encouragingly bounced back this past season. The 27-year-old averaged 11.1 points on 43.4 percent shooting and knocked down 38.4 percent of his 5.0 three-point attempts per game.

Harris isn’t much of a pull-up threat—he shot only 22.2 percent from deep on his 54 total pull-up attempts last season—but he drilled 41.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-pointers. The Sixers should have little trouble generating such looks off drive-and-kicks from Tyrese Maxey and James Harden or kickout passes from a double-teamed Joel Embiid.

More than three-quarters of Harris’ made field goals were assisted last season, but he can put the ball on the floor and create his own offense at times. He isn’t much of a facilitator, but he has averaged 2.1 assists to only 1.2 turnovers in 28.8 minutes per game across his eight-year NBA career.

Harris could also help shore up the Sixers’ backcourt defense. He had a plus-0.9 mark in Dunks and Threes’ estimated defensive plus/minus this past season, and he has the size to defend either guard spot along with some smaller wings.

The Sixers might not want to spend their entire mid-level exception on a player with a lengthy injury history, as they need to nail their on-the-margins moves this offseason given the limited resources at their disposal. The upside of Harris could justify the risk, though.

Otto Porter Jr., SF/PF

Fresh off winning this year’s NBA championship, it’s difficult to imagine Otto Porter Jr. wanting to leave the Golden State Warriors. He recently told reporters that “it would be a great opportunity if I can stay here.”

The Warriors’ financial outlook could make that difficult, though.

Because Porter signed a one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Warriors in free agency last summer, they only have non-Bird rights on him. That means they’re allowed to pay him no more than 120 percent than what he earned this past year as the starting salary of his new deal. They also have to weigh whether to re-sign Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II, and they already have an estimated luxury-tax bill of nearly $75 million.

If Porter is indeed obtainable for the taxpayer MLE, he could solve several issues for the Sixers.

Porter is a career 39.8 percent three-point shooter, and he has knocked down at least 37.0 percent of his long-range attempts in each of the past six seasons. He’s hit 39.6 percent of his corner three-point attempts and an impressive 39.9 percent of his above-the-break triples across his nine-year NBA career, which suggests the Sixers could station him anywhere along the perimeter and rely on him to knock down open looks.

At 6’8½” with an impressive 7’1½” wingspan, Porter can switch between guarding multiple positions on defense. The Warriors started him in place of Looney in Games 4-6 of the NBA Finals as a de facto small-ball center, and the Boston Celtics were unable to punish them defensively despite starting two bigs in Al Horford and Robert Williams III.

Porter missed 131 regular-season games between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, although he played 63 for the Warriors this past year. Still, his injury history could make teams reluctant to spend the non-taxpayer MLE on him. If he gets priced out in Golden State, the Sixers should be willing to swoop in.

Danuel House Jr., SG/SF

Sixers team president Daryl Morey and star guard James Harden are already plenty familiar with Danuel House Jr. after their time together with the Houston Rockets.

Morey signed House out of the G League in late November of the 2018-19 season. He waived him after only five games, but he brought him back on a two-way contract shortly thereafter. Once his two-way deal expired in mid-January, House turned down a guaranteed three-year minimum contract, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, but he later returned on a rest-of-season deal and wound up signing a three-year, $11.2 million contract that offseason.

House bounced between the Rockets, New York Knicks and Utah Jazz this past season, but his stint in Utah might have salvaged his free-agent outlook. He knocked down 41.5 percent of his 3.3 three-point attempts per game with the Jazz, and he was one of their lone passable perimeter defenders.

“First of all, he’s very physical,” former Rockets defensive coordinator Jeff Bzdelik told Kelly Iko of The Athletic about House back in 2018. “He has great energy, a great desire to learn. He’s coachable, he picks things up real fast. He just has a very aggressive mentality about him and takes pride in his ability to guard. Without question, because he can guard multiple positions because of his size, tenacity and aggressiveness.”

House averaged a career-high 10.5 points per game while starting in 52 of his 63 appearances alongside Harden in 2019-20 back in Houston, but he isn’t a high-volume scorer. The Sixers wouldn’t need him to be, though. If he can consistently knock down open three-point looks while playing hard-nosed defense against opposing wings, he’d have a legitimate shot of dethroning Matisse Thybulle as the Sixers’ presumptive starting 3.

Nicolas Batum, SG/SF

Nicolas Batum is expected to decline his $3.3 million player option for the 2022-23 season to become an unrestricted free agent, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. However, “there’s expected to be mutual interest” between the Clippers and Batum on reaching a new deal, he added.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Batum is “widely expected” to sign a new two-year deal this offseason. He mentioned the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz as teams with “strong interest” in trying to lure Batum out of L.A., but he said the Clippers are “in the driver’s seat.”

The Clippers have Batum’s Early Bird rights, so they can give him a starting salary north of the $10.3 million non-taxpayer MLE next season. If the threat of their soaring luxury-tax bill becomes too unwieldy, though, the Sixers should join the list of expected Batum suitors.

After a disastrous final season with the Charlotte Hornets in 2019-20, Batum resurrected his career with the Clippers, averaging 8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 26.2 minutes per game over the past two years. He’s knocked down 40.2 percent of his 4.3 three-point attempts per game over that span, and at 6’8″ and 230 pounds, he has the versatility to switch defensively.

The Sixers don’t need another high-volume scorer alongside Maxey, Harden, Embiid and Tobias Harris. They need someone who can knock down open triples and play solid defense on the perimeter. Although Batum isn’t a lockdown defender, he’d slide in seamlessly at the 3 and improve the Sixers on both ends of the court.

Caleb Martin, SF

After spending his first two NBA seasons with the Hornets, Caleb Martin latched on with the Miami Heat last year on a two-way contract. When Covid-19 began wreaking havoc on the league in December, he had the opportunity to impress in a larger role, which caused the Heat to sign him to a rest-of-season contract in mid-February.

In 23 games across December and January (including nine starts), Martin averaged 12.3 points on 53.5 percent shooting, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks in only 27.8 minutes per outing. He also knocked down 41.3 percent of his 3.3 three-point attempts per game and used his 6’5″, 205-pound frame to play steady defense, too.

The Heat have extended a $2.1 million qualifying offer to Martin, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, making him a restricted free agent. However, they only have his non-Bird rights, which means they can’t offer him a starting salary above $4.1 million without dipping into their non-taxpayer MLE.

During his exit interview, Martin told reporters: “I want to be here [in Miami]. I got better here. … I feel like my team and staff believe in me and feel I’ll get better here.” But if the Heat wind up spending their entire MLE to re-sign P.J. Tucker, the Sixers should look to swoop in and swipe Martin.

The 26-year-old played sparingly during Miami’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging only 4.5 points in 12.3 minutes across 17 outings. However, he had a few strong showings throughout the playoffs, including a 12-point, six-rebound night in Game 4 of the conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

Martin might not supplant Thybulle as the Sixers’ starting 3, but he’d be a valuable addition to their bench at worst. Like Porter, Batum and House, Martin could help on both ends of the court by knocking down open threes and playing hard-nosed defense.

Amir Coffey, SG/SF

Between Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris and Norman Powell, the Clippers already have a glut of wing players. Add in Terance Mann, Luke Kennard and Batum (if they re-sign him this summer as expected), and something will have to give in terms of available minutes.

The Clippers also have to be mindful of the NBA’s luxury-tax threshold. They’re already projected to owe nearly $44 million in tax next season, and that’s before re-signing any of Batum, Isaiah Hartenstein or Amir Coffey.

Team president Lawrence Frank told reporters after the 2022 NBA draft that his “No. 1 goal” in free agency is “to try to retain our free agents.” They have full Bird rights on Coffey, which allows them to exceed the salary cap to re-sign him to any salary up to the max, but they’ll have to weigh what happens with Batum and Hartenstein for tax purposes, too.

If the Clippers don’t prioritize bringing Coffey back given their glut on the wing, the Sixers should see whether he’d be open to signing for the taxpayer MLE. He knocked down a career-high 1.4 three-point attempts per game for the Clippers this past season, and he’s a career 38.0 percent shooter from deep (albeit on relatively low volume).

Coffey has the size to switch defensively at 6’7″ and 210 pounds, and he isn’t a ball-stopper on offense, either. He had an above-average assist percentage last season, and he averaged 120.0 points per 100 possessions, which ranked in the 82nd percentile leaguewide.

Like Martin, Coffey may profile more as bench depth rather than a clear-cut replacement for Green as the Sixers’ starting 3. But they could do far worse with their taxpayer MLE than adding another two-way wing who shouldn’t get played off the floor in the playoffs.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.