Before the 76ers start looking at players to pursue, they have to decide who to retain in 2024 free agency. The Sixers have a lot of contract decisions ahead of them.
Harris, Lowry, Hield, Oubre, Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, De'Anthony Melton, Cameron Payne and Kenyon Martin Jr. are all scheduled to be unrestricted free agents. However, Philadelphia can exercise Bird rights for all of them except Lowry, Oubre and Payne.
Oubre will make for a very interesting decision. He didn't sign with the club until September, but he emerged as a significant factor during the stretch run. After playing on a one-year, $2.9 million deal, he should be up for a substantial pay raise.
Maxey is set to be a restricted free agent, and it's hard to envision Philly allowing him to walk. The Sixers didn't extend Maxey early in order to maximize their options this offseason
"He is still seen as a big part of their future, but the team wants to delay an extension for him to preserve flexibility," ESPN's Ramona Shelburne posted on X last June.
Philadelphia will now have a ton of cap space with which to target external free agents, and it can still work its way back to addressing Maxey's contract. The 76ers will have the ability to match any offer sheet, though Maxey's price point could be extremely high.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported back in November that Philadelphia was "preparing for Tyrese Maxey to be a max player in the summer of 2024 in free agency."
Maxey, who earned his first All-Star nod this season, has shown enough promise to justify making him a long-term building block alongside Embiid. It'll be interesting to see who else Philadelphia chooses to keep in the fold and who they'll look to add.
