A few days away from the start of free agency, we still aren’t entirely sure what rules the Sixers will be operating under this offseason.
Here’s what we do know: After drafting Labaron Philon Jr. with the No. 22 overall pick, the Sixers are entering free agency with nearly $173 million in guaranteed salary on their books. That already puts them well above the projected $165 million salary cap for the 2026-27 season.
As is tradition with this team, the luxury tax and the aprons are the bigger concern. They could be as much as $28.3 million under the $201 million tax line, $36.3 million below the $209 million first apron and $49.3 million below the $222 million second apron, but that would require them to decline their team options on Dominick Barlow ($3.4 million), Trendon Watford ($2.8 million) and Dalen Terry ($2.6 million) and waive both Jabari Walker ($250,000 guaranteed) and Adem Bona ($0 guaranteed).
The Sixers will have to decide what to do with Barlow, Watford and Terry by June 29, which is the deadline for player and team options to be exercised. Even if they pick up their team option on Terry, his salary is non-guaranteed until Jan. 10, so they could still waive him before the season begins without being left with a dead cap hit.
All of those decisions—and whether they re-sign Kelly Oubre Jr., Quentin Grimes and Andre Drummond in free agency—will help determine which mid-level exception (if any) the Sixers have access to this offseason.
Can the Sixers get the non-taxpayer MLE?
If the Sixers use the $15.0 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason, they would hard-cap themselves at the first apron for the remainder of the 2026-27 league year. That means they could not have more than roughly $209 million in salary on their books at any point until next July.
If they picked up their team options on Barlow and Watford and kept Bona, that would already bring them up to nearly $181.5 million in salary before taking Walker or Terry into account. That would leave them roughly $27.5 million below the first apron. Once they spent the non-taxpayer MLE, they’d be only $12.5 million below.
That would all but guarantee the departures of Oubre and Grimes unless they managed to shed salary elsewhere.
If the Sixers aren’t attached to bringing back Oubre and Grimes, they could even have enough wiggle room under the first apron to spend both the non-taxpayer MLE and the $5.5 million bi-annual exception. That would push them dangerously close to the first apron, which could limit their in-season flexibility, but it might be their best chance to build up their supporting cast in the wake of Oubre and Grimes’ departures.
Unless the Sixers have already made up their minds about Oubre and Grimes, timing might be their biggest hurdle. They might not want to spend the non-taxpayer MLE and hard-cap themselves at the first apron until they see how the Oubre and Grimes situations play out, but they’d also run the risk of losing out on high-end non-taxpayer MLE targets if they wait.
The taxpayer MLE route
If the Sixers do cross the first apron by re-signing Grimes and/or Oubre, they’ll lose access to both the non-taxpayer MLE and the bi-annual exception. Instead, they’d only have the $6.1 million taxpayer MLE as long as they stay under the second apron. If they cross the second apron, they won’t have a mid-level exception at all.
This might be the Sixers’ most likely path this offseason, at least initially. If they spend up to $6.1 million of the MLE, they’d get hard-capped at the second apron, but they’d still have the flexibility to go above the first apron to re-sign Grimes and/or Oubre. If both of them leave and the Sixers decide that they’re fine with a first-apron hard cap, they could always spend the remaining ~$9 million of the non-taxpayer MLE later.
The Sixers also don’t have to use the MLE just to sign free agents. They could use it as a trade exception, too. That would have been their best path to acquire Aaron Wiggins or Isaiah Joe from the Oklahoma City Thunder, although the Sixers presumably had no interest in hard-capping themselves at the first apron before free agency began, particularly for another backcourt player.
If the Sixers do cross the first apron, they also wouldn’t be allowed to take back more salary in a trade than they send out, nor could they acquire a free agent via sign-and-trade. They’d also lose their $4.2 million trade exception from the Jared McCain trade, although it wouldn’t be surprising if they wind up letting that expire regardless.
Given their proximity to the first apron heading into free agency, the Sixers would be taking a major risk by hard-capping themselves early on. If the market is unkind to Oubre and/or Grimes, the Sixers might be able to bring them back at a discount. But if the Sixers had already spent the non-taxpayer MLE by that point, it would be far more difficult to squeeze them in and stay under the hard cap.
So, anyone dreaming of luring John Collins, Rui Hachimura or someone of that ilk with the non-taxpayer MLE should be aware of what that would entail. It’s a feasible possibility, but it would come at a real cost.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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