By Peter Gleason
So, how will point guard Jerryd Bayless, who signed a reported three-year, $27 million deal with the Sixers, fit into Brett Brown’s high-powered offense?
During Sam Hinkie’s three years at the helm, the largest contract the team handed out to a free agent was about $8 million over four years for Kendall Marshall last summer, of which only a little more than $2 million was guaranteed. It took Bryan Colangelo less than a day of free agency to blow past that record.
Of course, no matter the GM, the 76ers were likely to turn their attention to free agency this summer now that their core is relatively complete with the arrival of Ben Simmons. And there are things to like about Bayless’ fit in Philly.
He’s a nominal point guard who is used to playing off the ball and a capable outside shooter (43.7 percent from 3 last year, though that’s out of line with his 36.5 percent career mark), which makes Bayless a good fit alongside Simmons.
With eight seasons of experience at age 27, Bayless also brings a nice combination of veteran presence without being so old that a multi-year contact is problematic.
On the analytics side, Bayless has never rated well by ESPN’s real plus-minus (RPM), and was minus-2.1 points per 100 possessions by RPM last season — worse than incumbent Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell (minus-1.5 as a rookie).
