The Philadelphia 76ers opened up a roster spot on Wednesday as they released Hollis Thompson. Many of the media following the Sixers believe president of basketball operations and general manager Bryan Colangelo will fill the 15th roster spot with a point guard and this includes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly.
Thompson, undrafted in 2012, has been with the Sixers for three-and-a-half years and this season he was averaging 5.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in 31 appearances. Thompson's salary this season would have been fully guaranteed had he been on the roster on Jan. 10. This move also gives rookie Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, the No. 24 pick in the 2016 NBA draft, the possibility of getting some minutes.
The Sixers are currently down to just T.J. McConnell at point guard with Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez unavailable due to injuries. Rodriguez is recovering from a sprained left ankle, while Bayless is out for the rest of the 2016-17 NBA season following surgery on Dec. 15 to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist.
Thursday is the first day NBA teams can begin offering 10-day contracts and that could be Colangelo's first move to bring in a point guard. He could also sign a veteran point guard to a rest-of-season deal, or make a trade.
A possible call-up from the D-League could be Cat Barber, Briante Weber, Ray McCallum, Xavier Munford or Elijah Millsap. Regarding veteran free agents, Colangelo may consider Norris Cole, Toney Douglas, Mario Chalmers or Jarrett Jack.
--- Nick Silva