The Philadelphia 76ers already for 2026-2027 have roughly 167 mil guaranteed in contracts with a projected salary cap of 165 mil. 112 million dollars is allocated to stars Paul George and Joel Embiid who are injury prone older stars. I highly doubt anyone would dare to ever take joel embiids contract but paul george could be different. Paul George since arriving to 76ers has played in 78 games in 2 seasons (as of this writing). He has briefly been playing extremely well of late but that still dosent change much regarding availability, consistency, and finances. With no additional cap space or promising young players outside of VJ Edgecomb the 76ers need to add talent and flexibility. KCP expiring 3&D vet who's been on decline past couple seasons, Santi Aldama can score at all 3 levels, is decent decision maker, and an alright defender, Brandon Clarke injury prone athletic big expiring, and Scotty is a low cost reliable back up ball handler who can be pesty on defensive end

Memphis looks to continue adding assets to what seems to be a rebuild. They clear up the depth chart giving more minutes to other guys and future rookies while taking on a player who has a costly contract but with two years remaining u can let him regroup and vet the young core until u decide to buy him out his final year. Memphis isn’t a destination and u have to pay a certain amount of the cap each year