Is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope the Final Addition of the Sixers' Offseason?

Mike Gansey and company might've engaged in a small celebration upon learning that LeBron James had chosen to come to Philadelphia on Friday morning, but their work for the day was not done.

Of course, perhaps the gravity of James' choice did the work for them. Just after midnight, veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was in the process of finalizing a buyout from the Memphis Grizzlies and intended to join James in Philadelphia, according to Chris Haynes.

You don't need hard reporting to know that this is a veteran minimum contract, as that's the only tool the Sixers have left to make additions to their roster.

Caldwell-Pope, 33, has fallen off as a 3-point shooter in recent years after enjoying five consecutive seasons of see-sawing around 40% from behind the arc. 33 is not particularly old for a low-usage shooter who has spent much of his career spacing off high-usage stars and defending at a respectable level. It is not a bad bet that, playing in lineups that feature a passing wizard in former teammate James and several other offensive forces that possess gravity to shift defenses, Caldwell-Pope could exhibit positive regression back to what his prime years as a shooter looked like.

Time will tell whether he has anything left in the tank on defense. But even in the worst-case scenario, opportunity cost is the only downside of a one-year deal at the minimum.

If nothing else, he deepens the Sixers' bench.

Point Guard	Shooting Guard	Small Forward	Power Forward	Center
Tyrese Maxey	V.J. Edgecombe	Jaylen Brown	James	Joel Embiid
Labaron Philon Jr.	Anfernee Simons	Justin Edwards	Dean Wade	Adem Bona
	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope		Dominick Barlow	Ariel Hukporti
	Dalen Terry		Jabari Walker	Johni Broome

Caldwell-Pope puts the Sixers over the roster maximum, meaning that at least one player will have to go. I'll give you a hint—Walker and Terry are the only players on the roster with non-guaranteed contracts.

They could opt to waive just one, walking into the season with every roster spot occupied. They could waive both, leaving them with one roster spot vacant.

That's where there's still a bit of unknown for the Sixers. As things currently stand, they have $2,668,932 of space below the first apron, which functions as a hard cap for them because they used their non-taxpayer mid-level exception this summer. But Caldwell-Pope's deal demonstrates an interesting rule applied only to veteran minimum deals.

Because it is a one-year pact, only $2,449,421 of his $3,876,529 goes on Philadelphia's cap sheet. Should Philadelphia waive both Walker and Terry, the Sixers would have just enough to flesh out another one-year veteran minimum at the prorated minimum that applies to Caldwell-Pope's deal.

Perhaps there's another free agent out there that the Sixers would like to bring aboard to bolster their size. Perhaps there's a floor-spacing big out there who has experience playing next to James.

Continuing their offseason shopping would be a sharp contrast with how Daryl Morey's front office operated. They liked to go into the season with a roster spot open, leaving room to add pieces during the season once needs became more apparent. Going into the season with a full roster would suggest that Gansey does not want to use the mid-season buyout market as a necessary lever to add to the team. With all guaranteed salaries set, the only way to make changes would be to make trades.

There would be more of a downside to using that final roster spot. Signing another free agent, should the Sixers waive both Walker and Terry, would mean that neither of Philadelphia's two-way signees—Caleb Love and Rayan Rupert—could be converted to standard deals at the conclusions of their two-way contracts because the roster would be full. With a third two-way spot still available, agents would also be aware that their clients could not stay in Philadelphia beyond the duration of their two-way contracts. That would ostensibly reduce the pool of free agents interested in taking a two-way in Philadelphia.

The good news for the Sixers?

They've knocked this summer so far out of the park that the things they're worried about in late July are whether or not to waive one or both of their non-guaranteed contracts, whether to sign another veteran minimum or to keep the potential final roster spot open and whether or not they can attract a final two-way contractor without clear hope for a standard deal.

Oh, the first-world problems of the NBA.

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