The Philadelphia 76ers announced Wednesday that they will waive swingman Hollis Thompson before his $1 million salary becomes fully guaranteed.
On the surface, this move seems completely insane. Thompson is a perfectly fine player, and the 76ers do not have an abundance of those. He is on a bargain contract, too, which almost ensures that someone will claim him on the waiver wire. Thompson, 25, is shooting 36.6 percent from 3-point range this season and has made 39 percent of his 3s over the course of his four-year career. It is strange that the Sixers could not even trade him for a pick, especially because he's a solid one-on-one defender.
The rationale for this is simple: Philadelphia wanted another roster spot, presumably to add a point guard. Jerryd Bayless, who was supposed to start at the position, is out for the year with a wrist injury and Sergio Rodriguez is sidelined with a sprained ankle, leaving T.J. McConnell as the temporary starter with Nik Stauskas playing out of position as the backup. Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, is expected to play point guard when he comes back from injury, but he does not have an official timetable to return.
With Thompson's departure, Nerlens Noel will be the only Sixer left from the 2013-14 team that won 19 games in Brett Brown's first season as coach. Rookie swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who played a career-high 22 minutes in Philadelphia's 93-91 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, figures to get a bump in playing time because of this.
