Ranking the Top Five Buyout Candidates For the Sixers

The locals will not be moving on from Jared McCain any time soon. That's OK. They don't have to. But the Sixers have to continue to assess options to help their team as the season advances into the post-deadline buyout sweepstakes. Once thought to have a competitive advantage in the buyout market, the Sixers are actually in a tighter situation than previously thought after signing Dominick Barlow to a standard NBA deal.

Nonetheless, there are players who are or may be out there looking for jobs. It is slim pickens, but you're not looking for core rotation pieces at this juncture. You're looking for skills on the fringes of the rotation.

5. Georges Niang

Niang has not played yet this season as he recovers from offseason foot surgery. Sixers fans know him well. This is a matter of whether Niang can still pour in threes to help for the remainder of the regular season and maybe make a couple cameos in the playoffs. The Sixers need shooting. They need a little bit of size while Paul George is out. Niang was a fan-favorite. Kate Scott can fire up the "Bnag, bang, Georges Niang!" call.

The recovery from the foot injury would give me more serious pause if Niang hadn't spent the majority of this season employed by a team that has been actively trying to lose. He's still employed by the Memphis Grizzlies, but they're embarking on a rebuild and have no reason to keep him around.

4. Khris Middleton

Perhaps Dr. Glashow can work his magic on Middleton's knees and ankles. At his best, Middleton was a rangy 6-foot-8 wing who played second fiddle to Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee. Middleton's role as a ball-handler unlocked the Bucks' best offense on their way to a championship in 2021. He's 34 now. It's difficult to say how much of his availability with the Washington Wizards was tied to actual injuries and not just conservative management on a team that was also actively trying to lose. Now he's on a Dallas Mavericks team that is part of the caravan toward the top of the lottery.

If he has any juice left as a shooter and ball-handler, it would really help the Sixers' offense in their efforts to stagger Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey while Paul George is out.

3. Cam Thomas

The intel on Thomas is mixed, but it's a bit fishy that no one wanted him at the trade deadline so the tank-tastic Brooklyn Nets just waived him. He was a restricted free agent playing on the qualifying offer. He had every motivation to be the player the Nets needed him to be, but he couldn't satisfy them enough to stick around for the final quarter-plus of the season.

Nonetheless, Quentin Grimes' scoring off the bench has gone cliff-diving. The Sixers need a jolt. Thomas clocks in, gets buckets and clocks out. He's not perfect, but it's not realistic to think he couldn't help at all.

Why would he buy in in Philadelphia? He'd be playing on something resembling a prorated league minimum after being cut from a one-year deal. His NBA career is in murky waters. As Chrlie Munger once said, show me the incentive, and I will show you the outcome.

2. DeMar DeRozan

He's still playing for the Sacramento Kings. They are certainly ridiculous enough to justify keeping him around as they lead the charge for the No. 1 pick in this draft. DeRozan is still an incredibly smooth offensive force within the arc and can pile up the free throws. He'd be excellent for teaching young Edgecombe the art of the mid-range and tightening up some of Maxey's screws at that level of the floor. He would offer the scoring punch that the Sixers are missing while George is out and then have opportunities to scale up in the second unit with either of Embiid and Maxey off the court.

He has a pre-existing relationship with Kyle Lowry and Nick Nurse, so there are some Philadelphia ties that could entice him toward wanting a buyout.

1. Kevin Love

When was the last time the Sixers had a silver fox?

Love spent all of this season with Niang in Utah, playing spotty minutes for a team that has its eyes set on the top of the 2026 draft lottery. He's still there, to be clear. But, again, what is the motivation to keep him and why would the 37-year-old want to stay there?

He can still shoot it, spacing the floor for Maxey in the non-Embiid minutes. He can still rebound at a very high clip, something the Sixers desperately need. Imagine him pulling down defensive rebounds and throwing touchdown passes to Maxey or VJ Edgecombe from the opposing restricted area in transition.