There's No Easy Way for the Sixers to Duck the Luxury Tax This Year

Two things have come to define the Sixers in recent years: Getting no further than the second round of the playoffs and ducking under the luxury-tax threshold ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

Last year, the Sixers spent two second-round picks to dump KJ Martin's contract, which was an egregious use of resources. Martin's deal was fully non-guaranteed in 2025-26, so they could have cut him over the offseason without any negative financial ramifications. It was a pure, unadulterated salary dump to get below the tax line.

This year, the Sixers might not find it so easy to pull off the same move.

After signing Charles Bassey to a 10-day contract, the Sixers are now $7.1 million over the $187.9 million luxury-tax line. If they traded away Andre Drummond ($5 million) and Eric Gordon ($2.3 million), they'd be less than $165,000 below the tax threshold, but they'd have only 12 players under contract once Bassey's 10-day expires. Once they filled out their roster, they'd go sailing right back into the tax.

Since the Sixers are reportedly planning to convert both Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker from two-way deals to standard contracts "at some point" this season, they'll need to dump more salary than Drummond and Gordon alone if they're hoping to duck the tax for the fourth straight season. A prorated veteran-minimum contract signed on the day of the trade deadline would cost nearly $900,000.

So, how much do they realistically need to dump, and can they pull it off?

The Sixers' tax-dumping options

If the Sixers could find a taker for Paul George, that would be their easiest path out of the tax. Any teams below the first apron can take back 125 percent of the salary they send out, plus $250,000, so they'd be able to send back as little as $41.1 million for him. Why any team would want to trade for George and add $10 million to their payroll is a different story.

Assuming the Sixers don't move off their Big Three and VJ Edgecombe, their next-highest-paid player is Quentin Grimes at $8.7 million. Since Grimes signed his qualifying offer in October, he has the right to veto any trade involving him. His Bird rights will not go with him if he does get dealt, so he might be selective about which teams he'd approve a trade to.

If the Sixers can't convince Grimes to accept a trade, they could instead look to dump Kelly Oubre Jr.'s $8.4 million expiring contract. However, Oubre has started the past four games for them and has averaged 19.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 54.7 percent overall and 54.5 percent from deep (which is obviously sustainable) over that span.

If the Sixers are worried about their ability to re-sign either Grimes or Oubre in the offseason, it's worth at least exploring what other teams are willing to offer. Although the Sixers have full Bird rights on both players, far more teams currently project to have cap space this offseason compared to last summer.

However, if the Sixers trade Oubre without taking any salary back—perhaps for a future protected first-round pick or multiple second-rounders?—they would be making this year's team worse. That's a tough sell for a team that enters Monday sitting only 3.5 games behind the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the East.

The Sixers could pursue a hybrid version of a tax duck by dumping Drummond and Gordon and then flipping Grimes or Oubre for someone earning less than them. The Houston Rockets are too close to the first apron to do a straight one-for-one swap with Grimes and Tari Eason ($5.7 million), but maybe that gets baked into a larger trade? Perhaps team president Daryl Morey fulfills his dream of participating in a seven-team trade and somehow works Drummond and Gordon into the same deal?

If no team is willing to take on George or Joel Embiid, the Sixers' ability to get below the tax likely hinges on Grimes and/or Oubre. But for what it's worth, ESPN's Bobby Marks doesn't necessarily expect the Sixers to duck the tax at all costs this year.

"Teams that might have been expected to move off contracts at the deadline—including Boston, Philadelphia and Phoenix—are contending for home-court advantage in the playoffs," Marks wrote Friday. "Unlike last season, when Philadelphia was sitting in the bottom of the standings and made multiple trades to drop below the luxury tax, that option is unlikely to play out this season."

Given the Sixers' proximity to the tax line, fans shouldn't be surprised if they attempt to slash salary over the next 10 days. Maybe they'll even be able to recoup the assets that they lit on fire last February to salary-dump KJ Martin.

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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