NBA teams have been very active in free agency the past week, following the NBA trade deadline, and the 76ers are reportedly gearing up to make an addition.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark, the 76ers intend to sign center Willie Cauley-Stein to a 10-day contract in the coming days.
Cauley-Stein is in his seventh NBA season after getting drafted sixth overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2015. The 28-year-old center played in Sacramento for four seasons before being traded to the Golden State Warriors for half a season and signing with the Dallas Mavericks the following offseason.
Dallas is where Cauley-Stein remained before getting cut by the team on Jan. 15, as he was struggling to find playing time for the Mavericks.
This season Cauley-Stein has only played 18 games and averaged 1.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game over a total of 177 minutes thus far. This is a departure from Cauley-Stein’s usual production, as, over his career, he has maintained a respectable average of 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Following the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Philly and Ben Simmons to Brooklyn, the 76ers are in need of a backup center for Joel Embiid. Andre Drummond, who previously served as the team’s backup, was shipped to the Nets and Seth Curry as part of the Harden trade.
The 76ers are currently in the midst of a fight for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, currently third in the conference with a record of 35-23, just 2.5 games back of the first-place Miami Heat.
