The Philadelphia 76ers is changing its tune from acquiring assets to actually winning basketball games.
The transition from one phase to another is not at all easy. The roster is imbalanced, to say the least and since every other team in the NBA is aware of that, the Sixers can't negotiate from a position of power.
There is another recourse for GM Bryan Colangelo. He has huge cap space to sign free agents, but with the Sixers string of mediocrity, not even a change of philosophy can convince top free agents to choose them.
Colangelo can use his connections, though. With regards to Toronto Raptors free agent DeMar DeRozan, they are not strangers. Colangelo offered DeRozan his current contract, as recalled by Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic.
"At the time, the deal looked like an unnecessary, or at least early risk, but DeRozan's ascension to All-Star status soon made it look like a bargain," Murphy wrote.
Now, Colangelo is with the Philadelphia 76ers. Could his faith in DeRozan be enough to convince the latter to leave a team that was two games short of the NBA Finals?
That's the hope, according to The Sixer Sense. "Many fans have speculated about the possibility of the Sixers offering DeRozan the max deal this summer."
However, critics note that DeRozan was not very consistent during the playoffs as his averages dipped from 23 points to 20, and there were games were the former All-Star and Team USA player scored in single digits. These led to the observation that DeRozan was "anything but clutch."
Should this be taken against DeRozan? The truth is the Raptors as a whole were inconsistent throughout the playoffs. They would win impressively in one game then get blown out in the next. This is why the Indiana and Miami series both went the full distance. Even Kyle Lowry, the acknowledged team leader was inconsistent, more than DeRozan.
But DeMar has repeatedly aired his desire to stay in Toronto. The Raptors can keep him but they may have to let go of reserve center Bismack Biyombo and would not have cap space to pursue a starting power forward the team has lacked.
Thus, there is the proposal for a sign-and-trade arrangement. The Raptors can sign DeRozan then trade him to the Sixers with Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel going back. Will this work?
Probably not. DeRozan is an unrestricted free agent and could sign with any team he likes. If he wanted to go to Philly, he could just sign in Philly and still play with Okafor or Noel (or whoever they get traded for). Besides, the belief is that if DeRozan leaves Toronto, there is only one place he would go and that is back home to Los Angeles.