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Two-time NBA champion could be the best fit for the 76ers in free agency

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3 months ago

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Two-time NBA champion could be the best fit for the 76ers in free agency

The Philadelphia 76ers are in a strange, albeit familiar spot again this offseason. Despite making the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season, the Sixers still can’t quite get over the hump.

Philly has stalled out in the first or second round of the postseason in each of the last seven years. Free agency and adding another key piece alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey is of the utmost importance.

Rumors of the 76ers’ interest in Paul George have circulated for some time but have seemed to take a back seat more recently. Acquiring George from the Los Angeles Clippers might be a little unrealistic especially since he has a whopping $48.7 million player option for next season.

This is where a player like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could be the better fit for Philadelphia. While Caldwell-Pope’s name doesn’t carry the same weight in popularity, he was a key piece for two championship-winning organizations within the past four years.

Caldwell-Pope came up big for the Lakers in 2020
during the “Orlando bubble” title run, and just last season, he was a valued role
player for the Denver Nuggets. He isn’t a star, but
Caldwell-Pop has proved he can give a team on the cusp that extra push needed
to get over any previously encountered hurdles.

Over the past few years, Caldwell-Pope has been clutch for the Lakers and Nuggets during their deep playoff runs. When compared to current Sixer Tobias Harris, it’s like night and day. Harris has been criticized publicly for coming up small in big games.

Harris’ point-per-game average dropped from 17.2 in the regular season to 9.0 in the postseason. The Sixers were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round in six games. While Caldwell-Pope might not score the points Harris does in the regular season, you know he’s going to make the best of his opportunities.

In two seasons with the Nuggets, Caldwell-Pope has shot 41.5 percent from three-point range. He may not be a focal point all the time, but Caldwell-Pope seems to have a knack for letting the game come to him and taking advantage when it does. Teaming him up with a healthy Embiid and Maxey could be the right formula for these Sixers to finally break loose.

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