The Philadelphia 76ers have hope for the first time in a long time. The youth movement General Manager Sam Hinkie has been pushing is finally starting to pay off as the Sixers now have a plethora of young, promising talent. Though their wins still aren’t where they should be, the play of young stud Joel Embiid could result in an all-star bid and the last #1 overall pick Ben Simmons, is approaching his highly-anticipated NBA debut after a foot injury has kept him shelved. Today, the 76ers made a roster move to open up more financial flexibility for their bright future by waiving wing Hollis Thompson. Following from PhillyMag’s Derek Bodner:
The #sixers will waive shooting guard Hollis Thompson, according to a league source.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) January 4, 2017
Though Hollis Thompson was a huge part of Philly’s rotation the previous couple of years, he’s seen his role reduced due to increased wing talent and is averaging only 18 minutes per game this year. He’s also averaging a career-low 5.5 points to go with 2.7 rebounds thus far this season.
Even though his stats this season have dropped, Thompson still provides value as a sharpshooter off the bench. He’s a career 38.9% shooter from distance and when locked in could certainly do some damage. There are plenty of teams around the association that could use a sniper swingman off the bench.
With Thompson in the last year of his 4 year contract, the Sixers obviously made the move with their financial future in mind. Even though he was only 25, Thompson was the odd man out from the wing position which is suddenly fruitfully talented with the likes of Nik Stauskas, Gerald Henderson, Robert Covington, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. It remains to be seen whether Thompson will be picked up in the foreseeable future. His ability to provide a perimeter threat for the second unit could be an asset some playoff teams covet to bolster their bench.
