Sixers Waive Isaiah Joe and Charles Bassey
Local beats were on it first I think, but here’s Shams:
The 76ers are waiving guard Isaiah Joe and center Charles Bassey, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 13, 2022
The immediate reaction always seems to be something along the lines of “why are they waiving young guys with potential” or “Doc only plays veterans” or anything in that realm of thought. There’s some truth to that. Outside of Tyrese Maxey, it is an older roster the Sixers are running out this year.
Following these moves, the main group that will see the floor in 2022-2023 looks like this:
- Joel Embiid
- James Harden
- Tyrese Maxey
- Tobias Harris
- P.J. Tucker
- Danuel House
- De’Anthony Melton
- Georges Niang
- Paul Reed
- Shake Milton
- Matisse Thybulle
- Montrezl Harrell
- Furkan Korkmaz
They have a couple of fringe guys, like Charlie Brown and Julian Champagnie on two-way deals, and a pretty good Blue Coats roster as of 10/13. They do have an open roster spot following Thursday’s moves.
RE: Isaiah Joe, they’re up against the cap, and it was always going to be hard for him to find time with the added depth on this year’s team. Doc likes Niang as a three-point gunner and then you’ve got House and Melton on the perimeter as well. Joe had to displace someone, or else there wasn’t going to be a role for him. You can make the argument that he’s better than Korkmaz at this point, but Furkan is owed $5 million this year and comes with a very movable contract should you find yourself in position to work a deal closer to the deadline.
RE: Bassey, they’re running three centers in Embiid, Reed, and Harrell already. There wasn’t going to be time for Bassey unless Reed transformed into some kind of stretch four and Harrell fell out of favor or was injured. Beyond that, you can ask questions about the Sixers playing some small ball when Embiid is off the floor, since they’ve got numerous guys who can be fake fives and spread the floor ala 2019 Houston.