The Most Important Free Agent for Philadelphia 76ers to Land This Offseason
K.J. McDaniels isn't the biggest-named player among the NBA's 2015 free-agency pool, however, he is the most important for the Philadelphia 76ers to land.
The Sixers will be entering the free-agency period with more cap space than any other team. They’ll be presented with two main options: spend or save.
Spending will be necessary in order to grab some of the younger talent among this year’s prospects. People like Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Kawhi Leonard will all be restricted free agents. They would all do a beautiful job of fitting Philadelphia’s mold. Each one is young, plays defense and has the athleticism necessary to keep up with the Sixers’ pace of play.
They’ll be some of the offseason’s most-coveted, though, and securing any of them is likely unrealistic.
The San Antonio Spurs will be desperate to keep Leonard on their books, as the careers of future Hall of Famer’s like Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan come to an end. All isn’t well with the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose’s health troubles, so expect them to match an offer sent Butler’s way.
The Golden State Warriors are also prepared to match any offer that comes Green's way, and it would be shocking to see him go from a squad with the NBA’s best record to one with the third-worst.
There's the future on top of it all.
It's 2015, but we have to also remember that some of the Sixers' top players such as Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid and whichever player they take in this offseason's draft will also be looking at extensions within the next four or five years.
Do the math on all the possible scenarios, and it's clear that Philly should be focusing on saving money for securing the roster for years to come.
Still, Philadelphia will certainly sign some veterans or players with a particular skill sets to shorter deals. The City of Brotherly Love seems to come into each season with a different roster, so that wouldn’t be surprising at all.
With that being said, it’s important not to pass the upcoming free-agency period off as anything other than crucial. The team might not be going for the biggest possible names, but there is someone who Philly must do everything in its power to acquire.
Defensive ability
McDaniels’ defensive abilities can almost be directly tied to his physical tools. His 6’6” height allows him to guard both point and shooting guards. Add in his 6'11" wingspan, and he can take small and the occasional power forward when called upon as well.
Having the body to defend is one thing, but a player still has to be able to make plays when the time comes. McDaniels did exactly that, as he averaged 1.3 blocks and 0.8 steals in 52 games played with the Sixers. He would be No. 2 in blocks and No. 10 in steals among rookies if he would have carried those exact numbers through the end of the season.
Bringing him back on board would fit perfectly with Philadelphia's continued focus on defense.
Philadelphia coach Brett Brown seems to be proud of what Philly has managed to accomplish in terms of being ranked No. 10 in defensive rating (number of points allowed per 100 possessions). The Sixers are also No. 1 in steals and No. 2 in blocks per game.
They are managing to put up these kind of defensive numbers with a revolving roster that has seen 25 players put on a Philadelphia jersey during the 2014-15 season.
Throw McDaniels into the mix while having a more consistent catalog of players, and there's no reason for Philadelphia to not have one of the top defenses in the NBA next year.
Coach Brown has clearly set a standard on defense. McDaniels does everything right when it comes to guarding the opposition.
Moving McDaniels to another team with the possibility of getting him back during free agency was in Philadelphia's best interest. It was able to secure a second-round pick along with Isaiah Canaan—who has played the best basketball of his career in his short time with the Sixers—and not be concerned with losing more games due to a lack of talent since that was already the team's goal all year.
Still though, McDaniels and Philly were a match on par with peanut butter and jelly as the year began. There's no reason to think anything would be different the next time around.
Philadelphia has more than enough money to pay for him
McDaniels pulled off one of the riskiest moves by a draftee when he signed his rookie contract as an non-guaranteed one-year deal.
The risk paid off.
Business Insider's Tony Manfred wrote an article at the beginning of the season about how the 2014 draft's biggest steal was also had one of the league's lowest contracts. Here's what he had to say about McDaniels' rookie deal:
"The Sixers are in complete tanking mode, but McDaniels is the type of young player they would be wise to hang on to for the future.
He signed a one-year deal at the league minimum of $507,336 with $0 in guaranteed money. It's the cheapest contract he could have possibly signed under NBA rules. Right now his pay ranks 387th in the 401-player NBA.
It was a huge gamble. The Sixers could have cut McDaniels in training camp, and he wouldn't have earned a dime. But if he has a monster rookie year, he'll become a free agent next summer and make way more money than the team originally offered him
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Grantland's Zach Lowe broke it all down from more of an NBA front office's point of view. A successful McDaniels leads to a loss for the Sixers in terms of negotiations before the season:
"If McDaniels blows up, the Sixers can match such an offer or just re-sign him into their cap space. If he doesn’t, McDaniels could just sign that $1.2 million qualifying offer and enter restricted free agency again a year later.
This is a negotiating loss for Philly, and a win for players who want control of their futures. More second-rounders picked in the 30s should at least think about this route, though it can be scary, especially for players with urgent financial needs.
"
McDaniels' low contract will surely be replaced by a significantly higher deal that could leave Houston incapable of matching whatever deal is sent his way.
The Rockets have the No. 9 payroll (per Spotrac.com) in the NBA compared to Philadelphia's at No. 30. Houston is currently at the hard cap with people like James Harden and Dwight Howard on its roster, meaning it will be next to impossible to retain McDaniels, regardless of the contract offer.
The Sixers are in a position to either sign him or potentially bully the Rockets out of contention if it looks like they'll try and match. Philly's financial situation is at a place where it can slightly overspend without doing much damage to its money in the future.
It isn't usually in Philadelphia's nature to be overly-aggressive during free agency, but signing McDaniels offers a low risk-high reward situation that needs to be taken advantage of.
Proof of productivity
Ask the Charlotte Hornets how happy they are with signing Lance Stephenson to a big-time contract over the 2014 offseason.
Be careful, though, the answer might not be exactly G-rated.
Free-agent acquisitions are some of the riskiest moves in basketball. An organization throws millions of dollars at someone with a world of talent in hopes of them improving the roster in a way that leads to more wins. The biggest risk is that there’s simply no way to know if the new player will fit, or end up causing problems with the foundation already in place.
Philadelphia would be bypassing this entire dilemma by signing McDaniels.
Here's the difference between what he has done with the Sixers versus the Rockets during his rookie season.
| Team | Minutes | Points | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 25.4 | 9.2 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.8 |
| Houston Rockets | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
It's abundantly clear that the man works within Philly's system. His success is proof.
The Sixers simply don't need to be concerned about his fit within the roster. His arrival would be more about picking up where he left off.
He’s getting hardly any playing time with the Rockets but displayed every necessary tool in his time with the Sixers. It will likely end leading to him being the highest paid second-year player when next season rolls around.
The Rockets might be able to match any offers sent by other teams, as McDaniels is a restricted free agent. But what does he really mean to them? Re-signing him won’t do much for Houston unless he’s somehow in its plans down the line. If that were the case, then they would need to clear take minutes away from people like Josh Smith, Corey Brewer and Kostas Papanikolaou.
Something the Rockets don't seem intent on doing since they are building on these kind of players.
Philadelphia has every reason to show him that he does have a place in the Sixers’ future.
McDaniels has 1,319 minutes worth of playing time to believe that he does as well.
Philly must make him its priority when free agency rolls around.
All stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
Zachary Arthur is a Featured Columnist for the Sixers on Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @Zach_ArthurSLC for thoughts on everything basketball.
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