Cutting Basey and Joe was the ultimate business decision

Waking up to a Shams Charania tweet notification is a frightening thought and as I rushed to check my phone in the early hours of the morning, I read some heart-breaking news.

Yes, Isaiah Joe and Charles Bassey were fan-favorites and seemingly won over the Sixers crowd of supporters, but the roster moves come as a business decision. One of which Sixer fans should be pleased about, even if one of their favorite players are no longer on the roster.

In last night's final preseason game vs the Hornets, neither Joe or Bassey saw any time on the court. It was pretty obvious a roster move was going to be made, but it even shocked me it was going to be this soon.

Charles Bassey was on a partially-guaranteed contractual deal entering the season and will now receive $74,742 from the Sixers.

Once Montrezl Harrell was signed by the Sixers, the writing was on the wall for Bassey. Even though he made some promising leaps during camp, his chances of making the final roster were slim. Paul Reed, another young center, was trusted more by the coaching staff and was on a fully guaranteed contract, so there was no incentive to move on from Reed, leaving Bassey as the odd man out.

Isaiah Joe was on a non-guaranteed deal, but would receive his base salary unless he was cut by October 23rd. So it makes sense why the move was made almost a week prior to the opening-tip of the season, giving the 76ers front office some time to work out the 15th roster spot.

Joe's situation might come as a bit of a surprise, but with his contract and the current context of the 76ers title hopes, it didn't sense to keep him on the books with a team that employs Milton, Thybulle, Korkmaz, Melton, etc. Many fans are correct in their assumption that Joe did not get a fair chance with the Sixers, but I still believe Joe will thrive on a team that fits his timetable.

With the moves, Philadelphia saved around $3.3 million in cap to use on another roster spot. With the 76ers being a hard-capped team this year, that threshold is at $156,938,000. After the two roster moves by the Sixers this morning, they now have roughly $5.8 million dollars of wiggle room to find the last piece to the puzzle - wether that be a signing or trade.