The Philadelphia 76ers did a little house cleaning before they could make another addition to their roster. The team announced Wednesday that it waived the contracts of nine-year veteran Carl Landry and 26-year-old big man Tibor Pleiss.
Landry was with the team this past season after the Sacramento Kings traded him to the Sixers in the deal that netted Philadelphia Nik Stauskas and Jason Thompson, as well as the Kings' 2018 first-round pick and the right to swap picks in either the 2016 or 2017 drafts. Landry had just one more year left at $6.5 million, which the Sixers will still pay and have on their salary cap as long as a team doesn't claim Landry off waivers. Considering he would likely sign with his next team for around the minimum contract, the 32-year old big man out of Purdue is unlikely to be claimed.
Pleiss was recently acquired by the Sixers in a trade with the Utah Jazz. The Jazz were looking to save a little money with Pleiss' contract over the next two years, so they moved him to Philly with two 2017 second-round draft picks in exchange for Kendall Marshall. The Jazz waived Marshall shortly after the trade was completed. Pleiss played his first season in the NBA this past year with the Jazz after being drafted by the Nets back in 2010. His draft rights were moved from the Nets to Atlanta and then sold to Oklahoma City before Pleiss was moved to Utah in the trade that brought Enes Kanter to the Thunder in 2015. Pleiss was owed $3 million this season and next season.
The reason the Sixers waived them is because they were at their roster cap in the offseason of 20 players under contract. This dropped them down to 18 players while giving both big men a chance to sign elsewhere well before training camp starts up at the end of September. It also allowed them to sign Anthony "Cat" Barber to a contract to add some depth at the point guard position. The team also announced that move on Wednesday.
Despite having the same name as a really cool but unnecessary profession, Cat Barber played three years at N.C. State and then went undrafted in the 2016 draft. He played four games at the Las Vegas Summer League with the New Orleans Pelicans, averaging 6.2 points in 11.6 minutes.
