NBA Rumors: Sixers Could Sign Tyreke Evans To One-Year, $14M Deal In Free Agency, ‘Hoops Hype’ Reports
The Philadelphia 76ers have become one of the most promising teams in the NBA as the team is finally reaping the benefits of The Process. With Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Markelle Fultz as their core moving forward, the future indeed looks bright for Philly.
However, adding veteran role players that could provide instant offense night in and night out would help the team achieve their goal of becoming one of the superpowers in the East even with LeBron James around. With that, Hoops Hype reported that the Sixers may look to add Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Tyreke Evans to their lineup next season.
Evans, 28, is coming off a career year that saw him produce the highest numbers since his incredible rookie season. The fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft averaged 19.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.1 steals in 30.9 minutes per game mostly as a starter for Memphis this season.
There were rumors that a lot of teams were interested in trading for him during this year’s deadline, but the Grizzlies chose to keep Evans as they were not able to find a suitable deal that maximized the value of the nine-year veteran.
As his $3.3 million contract with Memphis expires at season’s end, Evans will enter unrestricted free agency this July. Although other teams can offer him a much bigger payday, the Grizzlies have the right to match any bid thrown his way if the team wants to.
However, there are no indications that the Grizzlies would want to retain him for the long term, and so several teams are said to be willing to sign Evans this summer. One of them is the Sixers.
Hoops Hype‘s Frank Urbina said that the Sixers would pursue Evans this summer “if they were to strike out” with signing either LeBron James or Paul George, two of the top names in the upcoming free agency market. Philadelphia possesses the second biggest cap space this offseason next to the Los Angeles Lakers, and analysts believe that they are going to make the most out of it.
Even with their lineup studded with young stars, one of the most obvious weaknesses of the Sixers is their outside shooting, particularly around the three-point area. Evans would provide an immediate boost in that category with him shooting 43.8 percent and 39.9 percent from beyond the arc during the last two seasons.
Another area where Evans could help Philly is the drive-and-dish game. Urbina said that the Sixers lacked “a player who could break down a defense and get to the basket, either to get a bucket himself or set up teammates.” This has been Evans’ trademark on-court moves and he could bring those to Philadelphia.
