The Sixers Have Not Re-Signed Tim Frazier to 2nd 10-Day Contract, and Here's Why

Per the Inquirer's 76ers beat writer, Keith Pompey, the Sixers have let go their replacement starting point guard.

The #Sixers did not sign .@psufraz23 to a second 10-day contract

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 15, 2015

Tim Frazier started two games, averaging just five points per game in 35.7 minutes. His assist average of 8.7 in the small sample does stick out, and that alone might earn him another NBA opportunity.

There's three reasons I can find for the decision unrelated to Frazier's on-court performance. First: the Sixers don't play again until Friday, February 20th. Signing Frazier to a contract today would mean there are five days where he won't play. Practices likely won't resume until later this week, possibly even Thursday. Signing Frazier then would give him four more days on the roster during an active point in the season, and two more games played, than making the move today would give him.

Second: with the impending NBA trade deadline, not having Frazier means the Sixers can keep an extra roster spot open. They can swing deals with players acquired in trades rather than waiving a contract not intended to be kept with that extra spot.

Related to this, Andrei Kirilenko complicates this further. Kirilenko's suspension opened the roster spot that Frazier occupied. The Sixers, even by releasing Frazier, have 15 players on the team. A trade for a second round pick would not open a second roster spot. Additionally, now that Kirilenko's wife has delivered their child, he should be more available to play (if he wished to play for the Sixers he could report to the team - which he doesn't so he won't - but still). Having the additional spot makes a Kirilenko deal easier without impacting the gameday roster before Thursday's deadline.

And third: Michael Carter-Williams has additional time to recover from his injury, and with the potential for a point guard being traded to the Sixers in any deal, Frazier may very well have already ended his Sixers tenure. But if that doesn't happen, he could still be signed to another 10-day contract by the team this season, as players can sign up to two of them. Point JaKarr is funny, but the Sixers will probably opt to add a real point guard in some capacity this week.