76ers’ Staggering Salary Cap Hit by Injuries – What’s the Impact?

On a recent Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers were defeated by the Indiana Pacers with a score of 112-100. This game occurred shortly after Shams Charania from ESPN reported that the NBA was investigating the 76ers for potential violations related to player participation policies. Despite these challenges, Jeff Dowtin Jr. took the spotlight by playing 40 minutes, the most in the game, and scoring 24 points to lead his team.

Exploring the team’s roster on ESPN.com reveals a bewildering sight, marked by numerous absences. Almost every player was unavailable to play, a situation that Hoops Hype highlighted as particularly extreme.

An astonishing 96% of the 76ers’ total salary commitments were not playing in the game against the Pacers.

Key players such as Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, who together are worth more than $135 million, were sidelined along with Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond, Quentin Grimes, Jared McCain, Eric Gordon, and Kyle Lowry.

The highest earning player who participated on Friday was Guerschon Yabusele, whose annual salary just exceeds $2 million.

The situation appears even more dire when reviewing Spotrac for cap hit percentages. Embiid alone accounts for 36.5% of the cap, followed by George at 35% and Maxey at 25%, summing up to 96.57% of the cap.

Just adding Kelly Oubre’s 5.86% cap hit pushes the total over 100% of the NBA’s $140 million salary cap, essentially turning the Sixers’ payroll into a monumental fine for breaching the player participation policy. Imposing further penalties would seem excessively harsh under these circumstances.

Continued NBA Coverage on Sports Illustrated