Sixers Player Makes ESPN's 'NBA All-Value Team'

As any last-minute holiday shopper knows, value is critical at this time of year. Getting the most bang for your buck goes a long way.

Channeling that holiday spirit, ESPN's Bobby Marks put together an "NBA All-Value Team" on Monday, which highlights some of the league's best bargains. He excluded anyone earning $3 million or more, anyone on a first- or second-round exception (so, no VJ Edgecombe) or anyone with more than six years of NBA experience.

Dominick Barlow, whom Sixers On SI's Austin Krell highlighted earlier Monday, made the cut.

Barlow is currently on a two-way contract and is earning only $636,435. In his fourth NBA season, he's averaging career highs in points (9.1), rebounds (5.6), assists (1.8), blocks (1.0), steals (0.8), made three-pointers (0.4) and minutes (26.6) per game. He's also shooting a career-best 53.8 percent from the field.

Barlow has also made an impact defensively. According to Marks, the Sixers allow only 111.9 points per 100 possessions with Barlow on the floor compared to 115.9 with him off.

Barlow is shooting only 25.0 percent from deep this season, which will limit his ceiling moving forward if he can't improve upon his long-range efficiency. However, as Austin noted, he's taking advantage of the space that defenders leave him as a non-shooter by aggressively jumping into action as soon as he catches the ball. That will be on opposing teams' scouting reports soon enough (if it isn't already), but his adaptability could help make up for his mediocre three-point shooting for the time being.

The bigger question is whether he'll even be eligible for the playoffs.

Will the Sixers convert Barlow?

Unless the Sixers convert Barlow from a two-way deal to a standard contract by the end of the regular season, he won't be allowed to participate in the playoffs (provided the Sixers make it that far). The same goes for Jabari Walker, who's also on a two-way deal and has become a factor in the Sixers' rotation.

The Sixers do currently have one open roster spot, so it's possible that Barlow and Walker are competing for that. Then again, the Sixers could fill that spot with an external addition between now and the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline.

Given the impact that both Barlow and Walker have had this season, the Sixers will likely approach the trade deadline hoping to convert one if not both. Each one can only be on the Sixers' active list for 50 games before the Sixers have to convert them, and Walker has played in all but one game this season, so the Sixers will have to decide on him right around the trade deadline unless they put him on their inactive list for a few games.

Since the Sixers have left one roster spot open all season, they're also quickly approaching another limit. Teams can only have 90 total "Under-Fifteen Games" split between their two-way players. However, the Sixers could start filling that open roster spot with 10-day contracts in early January to push back that deadline a bit.

The Sixers do have their full $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception available, which they could use to convert Barlow and/or Walker to a standard contract. It will begin to prorate downward by nearly $33,000 per day on Jan. 10, although they'll still be able to offer more than a minimum contract (which began prorating downward at the start of the regular season). Contracts signed with the taxpayer MLE can be no more than two years in length, though, so the Sixers can't lock in Barlow and/or Walker to a bargain for long.

The next month will give Barlow and Walker more chances to prove that they deserve to fill a standard roster spot and could factor into the Sixers' postseason rotation. But for now, Barlow is standing out as one of the best values in the league.

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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