Somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 NBA players have entered free agency and inked new deals since June 30. But here we are, more than six weeks later, and there are still notable names out on the market. 

Which remaining NBA free agents have ties to the Sixers?

Markelle Fultz

The Sixers traded for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft in order to select Fultz, and just over seven years later he is without a team. Should that be the case, though?

Everybody knows that Fultz, 26, is never going to be the star he was billed as coming out of college. He went from a fantastic shooter at Washington to physically and mentally incapable of taking a traditional jumpshot for much of his time with the Sixers, but when he was dealt to the Orlando Magic in 2019, the change of scenery gave him a massive lift.

In a lower-pressure environment, Fultz was able to rework his jumper to at least be normally subpar, rather than comically bad. And it was the ultimate testament to his massive skill level and feel for the game that despite every opponent knowing he was reluctant to shoot jumpers, he became a quality starting point guard for the Magic. In his first season with the team, he started 60 games and was an effective scorer, creator and defensive player.

After seeing multiple seasons derailed by injuries, Fultz simply does not have a place with the Magic any longer: Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope make up their backcourt, with Cole Anthony, Anthony Black and Gary Harris all in the picture as well. 

Fultz, however, remains young, athletic and talented. At this juncture, he could likely be signed on a veteran’s minimum contract. It is hard to imagine there are not several teams who could easily extract surplus value out of him at that price. The Sixers likely do not make sense here, but what about the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have three open roster spots and lack ball-handling depth behind Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell? The Toronto Raptors — who often covet the sort of physical gifts Fultz touts — could also make sense. 

Marcus Morris Sr.

Morris gave the Sixers much better minutes than anticipated during his few months with the team, but was eventually moved to facilitate the Buddy Hield trade. He is a true stretch big, though his utility in other areas of the game is a bit lacking at this stage of his career. 

Of the names on this list, Morris makes the most sense as far as a Philadelphia reunion goes. The Sixers’ biggest perceived holes right now are some muscle at power forward and depth at center. Morris could conceivably help in both of those capacities in a pinch, though he should not be a nightly rotation player when the team is at full strength.

Morris finished last season with Cleveland, and their three open roster spots is likely an indication that Morris returning is conceivable. But it is hard to imagine Morris not jumping at the chance to return to his hometown, where he appeared genuinely thrilled to spend a few months.

Robert Covington

Covington returning to the Sixers as part of last year’s James Harden trade was a heartwarming story until Covington suffered a bone bruise in his knee a couple of months later and never returned to the court.

I am going to take this as an opportunity to partake in one of my favorite leisure activities: writing about how brilliant of a defender Covington became by the time the Sixers traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler. Covington made First Team All-Defense in 2017-18, and it could not have been more deserved. He was a monster when it came to accumulating deflections and forcing turnovers. Covington was rock solid on the ball and absolutely dynamite off the ball. When the Sixers replaced him with Butler — while also subtracting a significant negative on that end of the floor in Dario Šarić — their entire defense went into the tank for a signifiant period of time. But the Timberwolves almost instantly went from having a lackluster defense to sporting one of the better units in the NBA. 

Covington’s athleticism has diminished tremendously since then. But if he is at full health now, and the Sixers were reasonably confident that he could remain available over the course of an 82-game season, they could do a lot worse than adding a sturdy wing with excellent hands who can defend multiple positions while also being capable of knocking down spot-up threes. 

Sadly, it is hard to imagine the Sixers’ medical staff having any sort of faith in Covington staying healthy — and for good reason.

Landry Shamet

The Sixers selected Shamet at No. 26 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, and people quickly went from being surprised that he was picked that high to being surprised he had even been available at that spot to begin with. The Sixers appeared to find a gem in Shamet, who quickly became one of the best young three-point shooters in the NBA.

You know what happened next: Shamet was a critical component of the trade with the Los Angeles Clippers that netted the Sixers Tobias Harris, a trade that will forever live in Sixers infamy.

Shamet had a fantastic finish to his rookie season with the Clippers, but his presence has faded in just about every year since. He spent one more year with the Clippers before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets. After one year with Brooklyn, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After two seasons with the Suns, he was dealt to the Washington Wizards. He spent one year with Washington, in which he played a career-low 726 minutes, before being waived.

A few other names

• What a career Thaddeus Young has had, with 17 years of NBA experience now under his belt — most recently finishing the 2023-24 in Phoenix. Young is entering his age-36 season, and it has become unclear what he can still do well at the NBA level on the floor. One thing that is certain is that he is one of the all time good guys with a remarkably lengthy tenure in the NBA. If this is it for Young in the NBA, he will finish with nearly 1,200 NBA games played. 

• People typically forget that Justin Holiday got his start with the Sixers. Well over a decade later, Holiday has now played for 10 NBA organizations and made over $37 million in career earnings. Not too shabby for an undrafted player.

• JaVale McGee, who played six games for the 2014-15 Sixers that surely every fan remembers like they were played yesterday, caught on with the Sacramento Kings last season and appeared in 46 games. His days as a reliable contributor in a team’s center rotation appear to be over, but he has long been revered for his impact within a locker room. McGee has 16 years of NBA experience, an exceptional accomplishment.

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