In case you weren’t aware, the Sixers are making moves to free up space to convert Dominick Barlow.
The Sixers have made a move to help Barlow be available for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype has reported that the Sixers have given a second 10-day contract to Charles Bassey. Bassey did not appear in a game for the Sixers over his first deal, making sporadic appearances for the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League.
With the reported move that will send Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies, this brings the roster back up to 14 players. They’re out of two-way days with a roster with less than 15 players, so they will have to make one more transaction for Barlow to be eligible to play against the Lakers.
This move could be converting Jabari Walker to a standard deal. They’ll have to do so to retain him — he’s appeared in all of his 50 available two-way appearances, regardless of how many players are on the roster. This would delay having to convert Barlow for at least another 10 days.
It’s possible the Sixers will move on from Walker though, who’s started to fall out of the rotation as of late. In the last two weeks, the only games he’s played more then eight minutes in was their blowout loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
The decision they make on Walker, whatever it is, only makes the Jared McCain trade more infuriating, in this humble blog’s opinion.
If they don’t keep him, and their only remaining move is converting Barlow, then they’ve dumped two players to only open up one roster spot. If they do, then they’ve dumped a player with the upside McCain has flashed to keep Walker.
With every passing move, and every corresponding leak, the Sixers only show how easy it was to open up a roster spot for Barlow, something they didn’t have to bail on McCain to do.
Now of course Barlow isn’t the only reason the Sixers traded McCain. It was clear Nick Nurse didn’t have a ton of trust in him, and there’s very real concerns that he won’t get back to the production he briefly put up as a rookie. The Sixers definitely haven’t done anything to earn any benefit of the doubt from their fans though.
