This summer’s edition of NBA free agency did not get off on the right foot for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, the Sixers lost two key contributors off their bench in Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli. Ilyasova reportedly agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, while Belinelli reportedly signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs.
Then to make matters worse, they did not win the LeBron James’ sweepstakes. The superstar forward opted to sign a four-year deal worth $153.3 million with the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday evening.
However, things started to turn around on Monday as the Sixers reportedly brought back veteran sharpshooter J.J. Redick on a one-year deal.
With Redick back in the fold, Philadelphia can begin filling out the rest of their roster.
But who is left on the free agent market for the Sixers to grab? Here are three players that would be a good fit for Philadelphia.
1. Tyreke Evans
With players such as Will Barton, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope off the free agent market, Tyreke Evans would be a nice addition. This past season, the Chester, Pennsylvania, native had a bounce-back year with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Evans averaged 19.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 30.9 minutes per game. He also shot 45.2 percent from the field and a career-high 39.9 percent from three-point range on 5.5 attempts per game.
Due to those numbers and the ability to create his own shot, Evans is a highly sought second-tier free agent. The former Chester High School standout is reportedly receiving interest from the Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans, and Charlotte Hornets.
2. Jamal Crawford
Even though the Sixers reportedly inked Redick to a one-year deal, the Sixers need another shooter off of the bench. This is where Jamal Crawford comes into play.
According to Keith Pompey of Philly.com, the Sixers have expressed some interest in signing Crawford.
This is not the first time that the Sixers have been connected to Crawford. A couple of summers ago, they were interested in the former Sixth Man of Year.
The 38-year-old guard is a career 34.9 percent three-point shooter and would not need a lot of minutes to make an impact.
This past season with the Minnesota, Crawford averaged 10.3 points and shot 41.5 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from distance in 80 games.
3. Kyle O’Quinn
To wrap up this list, the Sixers need a backup center and Kyle O’Quinn fits the mold of what they are looking for. On Monday, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype reported that Philadelphia continues to express interest in O’Quinn, along with the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans.
If the Sixers were to sign O’Quinn, he would give them the best of both worlds on offense and defense. This past season with the Knicks, he averaged a career-high 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds.
For those who are into advanced stats, O’Quinn had a ridiculous defensive rebounding percentage of 27.8, block percentage of 6.1, and DRtg per 100 possessions (defensive rating) of 105.
