NBA: How the playoffs and draft lottery have affected free agency

Jimmy Butler/Tobias Harris

After Philly shocked the basketball community this last week by securing Brett Brown’s job for next season, it appears the Sixers brass are looking to play this offseason close to the chest.

Rumors have begun to arise of Simmons potentially being shopped this summer for LeBron, but assuming something that bizarre doesn’t end up happening, I’d guess these guys are on board to run it back with a full year of chemistry; the numbers for the small sample size they’ve played together are truly eye-popping, and certainly back up the eyeball test, i.e. Got DAMN this team is stacked.

Still, a lot can happen between now and June 30, and if these guys do skip town, I don’t see Butler going anywhere else besides New York or LA. Harris, though, likely wouldn’t demand the full max, so he could feasibly end up on any of the 16 teams with space this summer, ideally as a 2nd or 3rd banana following another star’s movement.