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The Philadelphia 76ers recently waived two-way player Mason Jones, and have made a new acquisition to fill that spot on the team. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the Sixers are signing 26-year-old, 6’6” forward Gary Clark to a two-way deal.
Forward Gary Clark is signing a two-way deal with the 76ers, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 11, 2021
Clark spent 2018-19 and some of the 2019-20 season in Houston with Daryl Morey’s Rockets, so he already has a connection to the Sixers’ president of basketball operations. Clark was eventually waived by the Rockets and signed with the Orlando Magic in January 2020, and went on to pick up some playoff reps with the Magic in last year’s bubble. At the trade deadline this March, Clark was sent to the Denver Nuggets in the Aaron Gordon trade before being waived shortly after.
The main intrigue with Clark is that he has decent size and length and fairly confident three-point shooting (he’s recorded good volume for his career, attempting 7 threes per 36 minutes), although it’s safe to say his percentage of 31.1 is underwhelming. Ultimately, he hasn’t done much to stand out in his career so far and hasn’t been able to maintain a long-term role anywhere yet. Clark heating up from three is his best chance of giving the Sixers a little spark if he gets much of a chance to play.
The restriction on two-way players not being eligible to play in the playoffs has been lifted this season. As Clark was waived by the Nuggets on April 8, a day before the playoff eligibility waiver deadline, he will be able to play for the Sixers in the playoffs.
The Sixers signed 35-year-old Anthony Tolliver to give them another backup 4, and in his seven appearances and 67 total minutes so far he’s done very little, while making just one of his 10 shots. The bar for the Sixers’ backup 4 spot is low, but Clark can add a touch of shooting and offers more mobility on defense than Tolliver and Mike Scott.
As the Sixers add whatever depth and options they can, bringing Clark in as someone who could at least do more to contribute than Mason Jones makes sense.