76ers Rumors: Kawhi Leonard Could Meet With Philly, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris Are Team's Priority

While most of the talk this NBA offseason has involved the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers actually have the biggest decisions to make in free agency. Three of the team’s starters are set to hit the open market, and two might command max contracts.

Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris are expected to get offers worth around $140 million from teams that have cap space. JJ Redick will be among the summer’s most sought-after role players. Re-signing even two of those players could give the 76ers the most expensive roster in league history.

If Philadelphia decided to let all of those players walk, they’d have plenty of salary cap space, even enough to sign a max free agent. The 76ers might even entertain the remote possibility of replacing their free agents with the top player available.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Kawhi Leonard might take a meeting with Philadelphia in July. It would be a shock if Leonard doesn’t sign with either the Toronto Raptors or Los Angeles Clippers, but he might still meet with Philadelphia and the New York teams.

LeBron James’ agent met with the 76ers last summer. He never seriously considering joining Philadelphia. It would likely be a similar situation with Leonard.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted on “Get Up” Friday morning that the 76ers’ top priority is retaining their own players, though it’s uncertain if Philadelphia will actually be willing to make it happen. Windhorst agreed with Stephen A. Smith on “First Take” that the 76ers will be hard-pressed to keep both Butler and Harris since the two players will both likely get four-year max offers elsewhere.

Philadelphia appears to be the favorites to sign Butler. There is some doubt that the 76ers would also want to pay Harris a max contract, considering Joel Embiid is already signed to a max deal and Ben Simmons will be eligible to sign a max extension this summer. Keeping all four players could eventually cost the team hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury tax bills.

It makes sense for the 76ers to prioritize Butler. He was their most reliable player in the postseason, handling the ball when Simmons was a non-factor on offense and taking the biggest shots in clutch moments.

Butler averaged 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the playoffs.

Harris wasn’t nearly as productive in the playoffs, most notably in the team’s second-round matchup with the Toronto Raptors. In those seven games, Harris never scored more than 16 points, shooting 39.9 percent from the field and 32.0 percent from three-point range.

The 76ers did push the Raptors further than anyone. It took a buzzer-beater in Game 7 from Leonard to eliminate Philadelphia from the playoffs.

Philadelphia’s postseason run could convince the 76ers that they would be the East’s best team next season if their core remains intact, especially if Leonard leaves Toronto. After trading for Harris in February, Philadelphia indicated that they were ready to pay a massive luxury tax bill in order to keep the team together.

We’ll find out in fewer than two weeks if that remains the case.