NC State Wolfpack: 76ers Sign Cat Barber
Former NC State Wolfpack star Anthony Barber joined the ranks of the professionals Wednesday.
For former NC State Wolfpack guard Anthony Barber, the last day of August will be a little more special. It was the day he ceased to be an undrafted rookie free agent and became a contractually bound professional basketball player. ‘Cat’ Barber was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers.
The road to get Barber was something of a complicated one for the 76ers. Their first step was to ship Kendall Marshall to the Utah Jazz for a couple of second round picks and the rights to forward Tibor Pleiss. That opened up a spot at point guard that Barber could then fill.
However the 76ers still had roster slot issues. There were too many guys and not enough spots. The team responded by waiving Pleiss and veteran Carl Landry to get the requisite space to accommodate Barber. Landry was unlikely to see much time behind the Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Ben Simmons and therefore not worth being the second highest player on the roster.
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It is a little unfortunate for Landry, who has played without complaint for the league’s worst team. The Purdue product will most likely catch on somewhere else once he clears waivers.
Barber now joins a roster looking to grow. The team has committed to getting better, and it now has Okafor, Embiid, Simmons, Noel, Gerald Henderson, and Jerryd Bayless to work with. That will put Barber next to a mix of other talented young players and steady veterans to glean experience from.
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For camp at least, Barber will be able to prove himself to his new teammates. He may have gone undrafted and been relatively quiet in summer league, but the guy can play some basketball. With any luck he will be able to make the fifteen man roster and stick around for the regular season.