Getty Otto Porter Jr. #32 and Gary Payton II #0 of the Golden State Warriors help Stephen Curry #30 up.
Following the NBA Draft, teams are now preparing for the start of free agency on June 30th. The Philadelphia 76ers have already begun altering their roster but still have some holes to fill.
Outside of getting James Harden’s contract situated, the focus for the Sixers should be bolstering the supporting cast around MVP runner-up Joel Embiid. Recently, Jackson Frank of Liberty Ballers cited Golden States Warriors guard Gary Payton II as a possible free-agent target.
He’s not exactly the tall, sprawling wing defender everyone seems to be craving for this Philadelphia club, but those are rather challenging to acquire, especially on the free agent market at a frugal price. Payton is good, though, and his malleable defense would plug holes for the Sixers.
It’s been an up-and-down battle for Payton II, but he finally found a home in the league with Golden State. The 29-year-old appeared in 71 games for the reigning champions and posted averages of 7.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.4 SPG. It might be tough to pry the journeyman away from an organization like the Warriors, but Payton II can fill a role here in Philadelphia.
Gary Payton’s Fit on The Sixers
The Sixers are a team that built their identity around defense, and Daryl Morey is looking to get back to that. Despite only standing at six-foot-three, Payton II is a tough and hard-nosed defender. This season, he posted a defensive rating of 102.6. To put into perspective how impressive that mark is, Matisse Thybulle’s rating was 107.9.
Pairing Payton II with the recently acquired De’Anthony Melton would give the Sixers a pair of defensive-minded guards off the bench. The only concern with a signing like this is, similar to Thybulle, Payton has some limitations on the offensive end of the floor.
While there are some limitations, the Sixers should still be able to utilize Payton on that side of the floor. He shot 35.8% from beyond the arc this season, but only on 1.7 attempts per game. However, 60% of his threes came from the corners, and he shot 40.3% from this area. This could allow the Sixers to utilize him as a kick-out option for Embiid that defenses will have to pay some attention to.
The presence of Harden is also a factor in getting the most out of Payton II. Given his elite-level pick-and-roll play, the defensive guard could be used as a screener for the former MVP. Doc Rivers tried this with Thybulle at times and saw some success.
Sixers Sign Aminu Mohammed to Exhibit 10 Deal
While the Sixers traded away their only selection on draft night, Daryl Morey did not walk away with adding more young talent to the pipeline. Along with coming to terms with a pair of undrafted wing players, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported the Sixers signed Aminu Mohammed to an exhibit 10 contract. This will allow Mohammed to join the team’s Summer League roster and potentially join their G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
Undrafted free agent guard Aminu Mohammed out of Georgetown has reached an agreement on an exhibit 10 contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources tell @YahooSports.
Aminu Mohammed is a six-foot-five guard who spent the past year playing for Georgetown. In that time, he averaged 13.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.6 SPG.