Sixers will consider Bynum return but have bigger issues to deal with

The Philadelphia 76ers gambled and lost. They traded Andre Iguodala to get back Andrew Bynum and rebuild their roster around an elite big man. Problem was, he’s an elite big man with terrible knees that never saw the court.

And the aftermath of that decision is just beginning to come to down on the team.

Coach Doug Collins has walked away. The next question is if GM Tony DiLeo will be back — he only took over as GM last September (after the Bynum trade) but his contract is now up and has not been renewed.

Then there are the on-the-court questions, starting with do you try to re-sign free agent Andrew Bynum, and if so at what price? Team owner Joshua Harris said they would keep an open mind and consider a Bynum return, speaking to CSNPhilly.com.

“A healthy Bynum that’s playing is a needle-mover, a top-15 player,” Harris continued. “But the reality is, he didn’t play a game this season. There’s risk. We’re going to weigh the positives and the negatives and try to make a reasoned assessment of what’s appropriate for Andrew. Certainly we’re open to the prospect of bringing him back.”

After a disaster of a season, Harris is trying to sell hope to a fan base that was excited after the Bynum trade and has since become disillusioned.

“I feel like we’re going to build a high-quality organization and we’ll attract a high-quality coach,” Harris insisted. “This is a good situation. We have a bunch of young assets. We have a bunch of cap room. We have an All-Star. And then we have a bunch of draft picks. I think you guys are painting this as a dire situation. It’s really not.”

Actually, it’s not good.

John Gonzalez breaks it down well at CSNPhilly.com. First, they do have three young assets of quality — Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young. If you want to throw Spencer Hawes on that list, I’ll listen to your argument. But that is one quality point guard and some rotation players, it lacks the game changer that even Iguodala could be.

Draft picks? In this draft the Sixers have their first rounder (No. 11 unless there is a miracle in the lottery) and two second rounders. That’s nice, but there will be no game changers at that spot.

And as for that cap space, I’ll let Gonzalez explain.

If the Sixers don’t re-sign Bynum, Nick Young and Dorell Wright, all of whom are unrestricted free agents, they’ll still have about $46 million in salary commitments for next season…. If, as expected, the NBA salary cap is about $60 million next year, that leaves the Sixers $14 million. Except they’ll also have to pay their first-round pick, so subtract, oh, another $3 million. That leaves them with approximately $11 million for free agency.

If the Sixers re-sign Bynum he could cut into that cap space, so they would likely do it after they go after and ink any free agents. But $11 million in cap space doesn’t get you that much on the free agent market — it likely doesn’t get you even a Josh Smith kind of player, it more likely gets you a couple mid-level type guys. That’s not changing things.

There needs to be a new top-to-bottom plan in Philadelphia. Harris needs to find the GM/president with that vision, lock him up and let him do the years of work it’s going to take to get the Sixers roster fixed.