Darius Bazley Signing Suggests Sixers Are Thinking Long-Term With Roster Spots

The Philadelphia 76ers entered the NBA All-Star break with two open roster spots after signing veteran point guard Kyle Lowry last week. They’re now down to one for the time being.

On Tuesday, the Sixers announced that they signed Darius Bazley, the No. 23 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, to a 10-day contract. He’s spent this season with the Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers’ G League affiliate, where he’s averaged 20.1 points on 47.3% shooting, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 33.6 minutes per game across 18 appearances.

To some extent, NBA rules forced the Sixers’ hand. Teams are allowed to have fewer than 14 players (not including players on two-way contracts) for no more than two weeks at a time, and the Sixers have been at either 12 or 13 since the Feb. 8 trade deadline. They had to sign someone to at least a 10-day deal (if not a rest-of-season contract) by Thursday.

Choosing to sign Bazley instead of a past-his-prime veteran such as Joe Harris or Robin Lopez suggests that the Sixers may be keeping their eye on both the long term with their final two roster spots.

Bazley spent the first three-and-a-half years of his NBA career with the Oklahoma City Thunder before getting sent to the Phoenix Suns at last year’s trade deadline. He averaged 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore in OKC, but his minutes and production steadily declined over the past few seasons before he landed in the G League this year.

Bazley had 30 or more points in three of his last four outings with the Blue Coats, including a 38-point, 15-rebound, five-assist night in a 120-114 win over the Long Island Nets on Feb. 13. The 6’9″, 216-pound forward will give the Sixers some much-needed frontcourt reinforcements behind Paul Reed and Mo Bamba with Joel Embiid and Robert Covington still sidelined for the next few weeks.

Although he was drafted five years ago, Bazley doesn’t even turn 24 until June. He’s a full year younger than Reed, whom the Sixers drafted in 2020. It’s still far too early to write off his NBA career for good, especially considering his production in the G League this year.

Bazley is the exact archetype of player whom the Sixers should be gambling on with their end-of-the-bench spots. Rather than sign a washed-up veteran who’s in the twilight of the career and won’t factor into their long-term plans, the Sixers should be aiming to find young, inexpensive players who could help round out their roster moving forward.

Although Bazley likely wouldn’t get much (if any) run with the full-strength Sixers, it’s worth seeing whether he can help them stem the bleeding until Embiid and/or Covington return. If he impresses in limited action and they’re able to sign him to a rest-of-season contract—or, better yet, a lightly guaranteed multi-year deal—the Sixers will have set themselves up well for the future, too.

“Signing young players to favorable deals I think is a smart move if we can do it,” team president Daryl Morey told reporters after the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline.

For now, Embiid is the only Sixers player on a guaranteed contract beyond this season. Reed’s $7.7 million salary for the 2024-25 season will only become guaranteed if the Sixers win a playoff series this year. If not, they could create more than $60 million in cap space this summer by waiving Reed and renouncing the rights to all of their free agents.

The Sixers seemingly prioritized maintaining their offseason flexibility at the trade deadline. Even if they sign Bazley to a multi-year deal, they likely won’t want to give him guaranteed money beyond this season. But regardless of what they do this summer, they’ll have to round out their roster somehow.

That’s why it makes sense to use an open roster spot to take a cheap flier on a young player with upside. If he impresses while on this 10-day contract, the Sixers could sign him to another 10-day deal before having to ink him to a rest-of-season contract. If not, they can continue churning through those open roster spots and give other players auditions.

The Sixers will have Bazley under contract for their upcoming games against the New York Knicks (Feb. 22), Cleveland Cavaliers (Feb. 23), Milwaukee Bucks (Feb. 25) and Boston Celtics (Feb. 27). Those are the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference, so it’s unclear how much (if at all) Bazley will play. If nothing else, he’ll have the next week to make enough of an impression to earn another 10-day deal.

Depending on how the buyout market shakes out—players have to get waived by March 1 to be eligible for the playoffs—the Sixers could eventually pivot to a veteran like Otto Porter Jr. But for now, they’re wisely following in the footsteps of the defending champion Denver Nuggets and giving some younger players a chance to carve out a role in their rotation.