LeBron James to the 76ers still isn’t official. But Philadelphia made the first of what could be several roster moves to get there, and the guy they cut is a former first-round pick who barely played.
The Sixers waived wing Dalen Terry on Sunday, according to league sources. The move frees up a chunk of cap space — about $2.6 million — which the team needs to sign both LeBron and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope without busting through the first luxury-tax apron.
Who Is Dalen Terry and Why Does This Matter?
Terry, 24, was the No. 18 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He played 14 games for Philly last season after bouncing around the league. His stat line wasn’t much: 4.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, shooting 25% from three. He wasn’t in the playoff rotation. The Sixers probably didn’t lose sleep over this one.
Philadelphia had picked up Terry’s team option for the 2026-27 season, which was worth about $2.6 million. But here’s the important part: that contract wasn’t fully guaranteed until January 10. Because of that clause, waiving Terry lets the Sixers wipe his salary off the books entirely without paying guaranteed money. That’s cap wizardry, plain and simple.
Terry joined the Sixers late last season on a two-way deal before they converted him to a standard contract in April after Cam Payne got hurt. Before that, he spent three and a half seasons with the Chicago Bulls, then got traded twice and waived by New Orleans in February. He’s been around.
This Was Just Step One
Waiving Terry gets Philly closer to fitting LeBron’s max salary and Caldwell-Pope’s new deal under the first apron, but they’re not done yet. The Sixers got hard-capped after signing Dean Wade using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, so every dollar matters now.
The obvious next candidates to go: Jabari Walker, whose contract has a $250,000 partial guarantee, and Johni Broome, who’s got a fully guaranteed $2.2 million salary for next season. One of them — or both — probably gets waived or traded in the coming days.
If Terry clears waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent. But here’s the kicker: he can’t sign another two-way deal because he’s got four years of NBA experience. So he’ll have to find a regular contract somewhere or head overseas.
(This whole thing feels a little cold, right? Guy gets cut just so the team can chase LeBron James. But that’s the NBA. Roster spots are just math problems with knees.)
We’ll see who’s next. But the Sixers are clearly all-in on this LeBron pursuit, and they’re not afraid to cut players they don’t need to make it work.
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