Sixers Facing Bigger Roster Crunch After Signing Montrezl Harrell

With three weeks to go until the start of training camp, the Philadelphia 76ers’ backup center rotation was looming as one of their biggest question marks. That’s no longer the case after they signed Montrezl Harrell to a two-year, $5.2 million contract on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Harrell had his best years under Sixers head coach Doc Rivers when both were with the Los Angeles Clippers. He won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2019-20 when he averaged 18.6 points on 58.0 percent shooting, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in only 27.8 minutes per game.

Sixers team president Daryl Morey originally selected Harrell with the No. 32 pick in the 2015 NBA draft back when he was with the Houston Rockets. Harrell spent his first two seasons playing alongside now-Sixers guard James Harden, although his career took off once he landed with Rivers in L.A.

Harrell figures to slide right in as the Sixers’ primary backup center, at least during the regular season. However, his signing creates some uncomfortable questions for the team’s back-of-the-rotation players heading into training camp.

The Sixers now have 13 players under guaranteed contracts for the 2022-23 season and four on nonguaranteed (Paul Reed, Isaiah Joe) or partially guaranteed (Charles Bassey, Trevelin Queen) contracts. Reed and Joe’s $1.8 million contracts become guaranteed if they’re still on the roster on opening night, while Bassey ($74,742 guaranteed) and Queen ($330,000 guaranteed) won’t have the rest of their contracts guaranteed until Jan. 10.

With 17 players under contract—not counting two-way players Charlie Brown Jr. and Julian Champagnie—the Sixers are two over the regular-season roster limit. They’ll need to trim their roster down to 15 by opening night, which means two players on the roster will be on the chopping block in the next month-and-a-half.

Prior to Tuesday, Bassey seemed like a safe bet to make the roster, as the Sixers lacked center depth behind All-Star big man Joel Embiid. Bassey and Reed figured to split minutes behind him during the regular season, while P.J. Tucker lurked as a change-of-pace option as a small-ball 5.

With Harrell in the fold, that calculus might have changed. If Embiid, Harrell, Reed and Tucker will all see minutes at center this year, there’s little room for Bassey to crack the rotation barring multiple injuries. It might not make sense for the win-now Sixers to devote a roster spot to a developmental big man who isn’t likely to see the floor this year.

Although Harrell may bump Reed down a peg in the rotation, his spot on the roster should be relatively secure. He played well in the playoffs when called into action last season and dominated during his limited summer-league stint. The 23-year-old is heading into the last year of his contract, though, which could factor into the Sixers’ decision-making.

Prior to the Harrell signing, Joe and Queen figured to battle one another for the final roster spot during training camp and the preseason. If the Sixers keep both Bassey and Reed, Joe and Queen could each be on the outs. The front office won’t have to make that decision until right before the regular season begins, though.

The Harrell signing also puts the Sixers significantly closer to the $156.983 million luxury-tax apron, which they cannot cross at any point between now and June 30 because they signed Tucker and Danuel House Jr. with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and bi-annual exception, respectively. They’re currently only $765,515 under the apron at the moment, although they’ll clear at least $3 million more by waiving any two of Reed, Bassey, Queen and Joe before their guarantee dates.

The Sixers did complicate their pathway to a potential consolidation trade by signing Harrell, though.

As a taxpaying team, the Sixers can take back no more than 125 percent of the salary that they send out in a trade, plus $100,000. However, their inability to cross the apron and their current proximity to that line means they have to send out almost an equal amount of salary that they take back in any deal.

For instance, if the Sixers were interested in acquiring Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, who’s earning $13.3 million this year, they could cobble together enough contracts for salary-matching purposes. Furkan Korkmaz ($5 million), Matisse Thybulle ($4.4 million) and any one of Joe, Reed, Bassey, Queen, Jaden Springer or Shake Milton would do the trick, and a three-for-one deal like that would help them reach the 15-man regular-season roster limit.

However, the Sixers also couldn’t take back more than $765,515 than they sent out without crossing the apron. They’d have to send out at least $12.6 million for Clarkson, which would require trading away Korkmaz, Thybulle and either Georges Niang or two of Joe, Reed, Bassey, Queen, Springer and Milton.

The same obstacle could dissuade them from pursuing Charlotte Hornets forward Kelly Oubre Jr. ($12.6 million), San Antonio Spurs forward Doug McDermott ($13.8 million) or Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon ($19.6 million). They instead might have to target cheaper options such as Detroit Pistons guard Alec Burks ($10.0 million), Dallas Mavericks wing Reggie Bullock ($10.0 million) or Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder ($10.2 million).

Whether the Sixers consolidate their roster via trades or by waiving players, another shoe has to drop at some point in the next month-and-a-half. The Harrell signing only further complicates their back-of-the-roster picture at the moment.

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.