The Philadelphia 76ers have officially signed free agent guard Kendall Marshall, the team announced on Wednesday. The deal is for four years, with one year and $2.1 million fully guaranteed, according to Basketball Insiders' Eric Pincus. His salary reportedly descends from there.
Marshall is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL. He suffered the injury playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in January, and he missed the rest of the season. Philadelphia might be the perfect spot for him because it has a track record of playing it safe with players who have serious injuries.
For the Sixers, Marshall's basketball IQ has to be appealing. Although he's only 24 years old, he is immediately one of the oldest players on the team and by far its best passer. Philadelphia generally goes after guys who have crazy athleticism but need to learn how to play basketball -- Marshall is the opposite. While he will never be explosive for an NBA point guard, he can set his teammates up for easy baskets and perhaps teach them how to read defenses.
Marshall was in a somewhat similar situation with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013-14. Those Lakers were destroyed by injuries and lost a lot of games, but he earned big minutes by making terrible-on-paper lineups more efficient than average offensively. He'll compete for playing time with Isaiah Canaan, Pierre Jackson and Tony Wroten, who is also recovering from an ACL tear.
That four-year structure is Philadelphia's speciality. For Sam Hinkie's front office, it means Marshall is potentially a steal -- if he is a rotation player for the next four years, he is on an extremely favorable contract, especially if you consider the rising salary cap. Marshall could have bet on himself and turned it down in order to get a shorter contract, but it was likely difficult to turn down that guaranteed money after that injury.
