With draft, free agency reportedly pushed back, an overview of Sixers' outlook

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The NBA’s calendar has been more fluid than ever this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. That remains the case as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday night that the NBA and NBPA have agreed to further push back the NBA draft and beginning of free agency.

Those mid-October dates had seemed quite soon for the Sixers, who are searching for a head coach to replace the fired Brett Brown. General manager Elton Brand also said he’d be evaluating the Sixers’ front office and that change was “necessary."

The Sixers own a league-high five picks in the upcoming draft — No. 21 and four second-round selections. Though it appears highly improbable the team will use all five of its selections, there should be opportunities to add perimeter depth through the draft (see Sixers-only mock draft). It might also be one method of acquiring a young backup center, although outside shooting and shot creation should be priorities.

In free agency, the Sixers will be limited by the long-term, expensive commitments they made to Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Al Horford and Tobias Harris, and likely reliant on salary cap exceptions such as the taxpayer mid-level exception and veteran minimum contracts. It would be unsurprising if Horford, Richardson and/or other players were traded away.

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