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Sixers Rumors: Maxey, Reed, Offseason Targets, Harris, Hield, Oubre

May 3rd, 2024 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Sixers are disappointed by how quickly their playoff run ended this spring, there are reasons for optimism going forward. For one, guard Tyrese Maxey showed this season that he’s an impact player capable of becoming a legitimate second star alongside center Joel Embiid, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“He was amazing this year,” Embiid said of his teammate, per Mizell. “One of the 10 best players in the world this year. … He’s gotten so much better. I think there’s another step he can even take.”

Maxey will be a restricted free agent this summer, but that’s just a technicality — he will count against the Sixers’ cap for just $13MM until he signs his new contract. After using up their cap room, the 76ers will be able to go over the cap to lock him up to a maximum-salary deal that projects to be worth at least $35MM in 2024/25 — or up to $42.3MM if Maxey makes an All-NBA team.

Because the Sixers didn’t win a playoff series, Paul Reed‘s $7.7MM salary for ’24/25 will remain non-guaranteed, which means the club could potentially enter free agency with only Embiid’s salary ($51.4MM) and Maxey’s $13MM cap hold counting toward team salary. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), Philadelphia could have up to $64.9MM in cap room with just those two players on the books. That number would be closer to $55MM if the 76ers retain Reed and their first-round pick.

What might the Sixers do what that cap room? Sources tell Bontemps that Jrue Holiday was a top target until he signed an extension in Boston. OG Anunoby is also on their wish list, per Bontemps, though he’s considered likely to re-sign with the Knicks. Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst identified Paul George as Philadelphia’s No. 1 priority and said he thinks the team will make George a maximum-salary offer, assuming he hasn’t re-upped with the Clippers before free agency.

If no top-tier free agents are available, Daryl Morey and the Sixers figure to turn to their trade market, since they’ll have several first-round picks available to move and won’t have to send out matching salary. Windhorst mentions Heat swingman Jimmy Butler and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram as a pair of possible trade targets for the Sixers.

On the other hand, it’s not necessarily a star-or-bust summer for Philadelphia, according to Bontemps, who says one other potential path for the club would be to pursue a series of role players who complement Embiid and Maxey, like the Nuggets have done around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. In that scenario, the Sixers could explore re-signing a few of their own free agents, such as Kelly Oubre, De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, and/or Kyle Lowry. League sources expect Tobias Harris to be playing elsewhere next season though, per Bontemps.

Here’s more on the Sixers:

A reunion with Butler feels like a long shot, but David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that the former Sixer is exactly the kind of “alpha” the team needs to complement Embiid and Maxey. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) suggests that he can’t imagine the Heat accepting a trade package heavy on draft assets for Butler unless they planned to flip those assets for another star.
Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) and Mark Deeks of HoopsHype shared their Sixers offseason previews, taking a closer look at the decisions facing the franchise.
Veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who will be an unrestricted free agent, said that he would like to return to Philadelphia, tweets Mizell. Hield scored 20 points in 21 minutes in Game 6 on Thursday but had only scored two points and had a pair of DNP-CDs in the five playoff games before that.
Oubre also expressed interest in re-signing with the Sixers, suggesting that he feels like he has “unfinished business” after the first-round loss. “I just wanna be loved,” Oubre said of his priorities in free agency, according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “I don’t know about the business side of it. I mean, I do, but I can’t tell you what I know because I represent myself right now. At the end of the day, I wanna go somewhere where they respect and they love me. It’s been nothing but love here, of course.”
Taking a bigger-picture view, Danny Chau of The Ringer considers what another early playoff exit means for Embiid and his legacy.

Randle Returns To Former Rep

May 2nd, 2024 at 10:52am CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks forward Julius Randle has decided to return to Creative Artists Agency for representation, The Athletic’s Fred Katz tweets. Randle left CAA for WME Sports last year.

Knicks Notes: Maxey, Blown Call, Hart, Bogdanovic, Mitchell, McBride

May 2nd, 2024 at 9:33am CST by Dana Gauruder

While much of the focus in the first round series between the Knicks and Sixers was how New York could keep Joel Embiid under control, Tyrese Maxey has become a bigger problem, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes.

Maxey has scored more points and dished out more assists than Embiid while shooting 50% from the field. The Knicks have tried to slow down Maxey with a combination of OG Anunoby, Miles McBride and Josh Hart but nothing has worked. They’ll be looking for answers tonight in Philadelphia when the Knicks try once again to close out the series in Game 6.

“They’re really trying to pressure me so that’s where I try to use myself as a decoy. …Tyrese is going to come and make a wide-open layup or shoot it or be able to drive,” Embiid said.

We have more on the Knicks:

New York could have already been preparing for the second round if the officials had made the right call in the final minute of regulation in Game 5. Maxey’s pivotal four-point play shouldn’t have counted because he traveled on the play, according to the NBA’s Last Two Minutes report, Bondy relays. “Maxey gathers the ball on his left foot, takes two legal steps, and then moves his right foot again just before he is fouled on his shot,” the NBA determined in its report.
Hart, who has led the league in total minutes since February, says it’s not big deal for him to shoulder a heavy workload — in fact, he believes his significant playing time during the season helped prepare him for the playoffs. “It’s always funny because you see especially now during the playoffs, everybody is playing 40 minutes. Some people can’t do it,” Hart told Bondy. “Some people go from 34 to 41 and they don’t have the energy. It’s something we’ve had to deal with throughout the whole season.” Hart went the distance in the overtime loss on Tuesday, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes, logging all 53 minutes.
Bojan Bogdanovic underwent left foot surgery on Wednesday, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. Bogdanovic, who is also expected to need wrist surgery, will be reevaluated in three months to determine the progress of his foot procedure. The Knicks have a decision to make regarding Bogdanovic this offseason. His $19MM contract is only guaranteed for $2MM.
Mitchell Robinson is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game due to an ankle sprain, The Athletic’s Fred Katz tweets. Robinson played 25 minutes in Game 5 after missing Game 3.
McBride is embracing the steady playing time he’s receiving in the series, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. He’s averaging 13 points in 26.2 minutes in the five games. “I’m just glad I’m getting the opportunity, and able to show other people what I’m capable of,” McBride said.

Sixers Buy Up More Than 2,000 Tickets To Avoid Another Takeover By Knicks' Fans

May 1st, 2024 at 8:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers are taking steps to make sure Wells Fargo Center isn’t filled with Knicks fans for Game 6 like it was on Sunday, per David Aldridge of The Athletic. The team’s ownership joined with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin – a former minority stakeholder in the franchise – to purchase and distribute more than 2,000 tickets from the secondary market.

Wolves’ Mike Conley Named 2023/24 Teammate Of The Year

May 1st, 2024 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley has been named the NBA’s Teammate of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).

The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and a role model to other players, and commitment and dedication to team,” per the NBA.

The award isn’t voted on by media members. A panel of league executives select the 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, while current players vote on the winner. Players receive 10 points for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth place.

Here are this season’s full voting results, according to the NBA, with the player’s point total noted in parentheses:

Mike Conley, Timberwolves (1,172)
Mikal Bridges, Nets (1,041)
Jalen Brunson, Knicks (783)
T.J. McConnell, Pacers (759)
Georges Niang, Cavaliers (748)
Al Horford, Celtics (634)
Larry Nance Jr., Pelicans (627)
Jalen Williams, Thunder (565)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Nuggets (560)
Dwight Powell, Mavericks (549)
Harrison Barnes, Kings (435)
Markelle Fultz, Magic (421)

It’s the second Teammate of the Year award for Conley, won also won it in 2018/19 when he was a member of the Grizzlies.

The award, which was introduced in ’12/13, had gone to Jrue Holiday in each of the past two seasons (and three of the past four), with Damian Lillard taking it home in 2021.

Sixers Notes: Maxey, Embiid, Nurse, Harris

May 1st, 2024 at 7:46am CST by Luke Adams

After winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for 2023/24 last week, Tyrese Maxey capped a memorable April with the biggest game of his four-year NBA career on Tuesday. The star guard scored 46 points in 52 minutes, including seven in the final 30 seconds of regulation to force the game into overtime, leading the Sixers to a Game 5 victory that kept their season alive.

“What was going through my mind was trying to survive,” Maxey said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Our season is on the line. I trust my work. I trust what I’ve done all my life, and I just tried to get to a spot, raise up and knock that shot down.”

The Sixers’ other star, Joel Embiid, had a triple-double in Tuesday’s victory, racking up 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. But Embiid, who is dealing with a sore knee, a case of Bell’s palsy, and a migraine that forced him to miss Tuesday morning’s shootaround, clearly wasn’t operating at full strength and made just 7-of-19 shots from the field. Last season’s MVP said after the game that he appreciated Maxey coming through when the club needed him most.

“Tonight, obviously based on the circumstances and knowing what was needed, based on what was happening and me not being able to be myself, he just had to do it,” Embiid said, per Bontemps. “And he did it. That’s why he is such an amazing basketball player.”

Here’s more on the Sixers, who now trail the Knicks 3-2 in their first-round series:

Embiid has become public enemy number one among Knicks fans during the first round, especially following a physical Game 3 performance in which he was accused of committing a “dirty” foul on opposing center Mitchell Robinson. However, the Sixers star had nothing but praise for the New York faithful after being on the receiving end of their vitriol in Game 5, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “It’s not hostile. I love New York. New York is my favorite city in the world. I have a place here for the past five years. I just love New York,” Embiid said. “And then the (Knicks) fans, when you play against a team they’re always gonna pick that guy. And they seem to have picked me, which is fine. I love it. If I gotta be the punching bag and keep hearing a lot of ‘F Embiid,’ that’s ok. I love it.”
Nick Nurse become the second NBA head coach to suffer an injury during the postseason, though it doesn’t sound as if his issue is as serious as Chris Finch‘s patellar tendon tear, which required surgery. As Ian Begley of SNY.tv tweets, Nurse injured a finger during Tuesday’s game when he slammed his hand in frustration over a call. It’s unclear if he broke or sprained the finger, but the 76ers’ coach couldn’t grip a marker to draw up plays during the second half, Begley adds.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer suggested that it might be a good idea to bring struggling forward Tobias Harris off the bench after he scored no more than 10 points in any of the series’ first four games. However, Nurse stuck with Harris in the starting five and the veteran rewarded his faith in Game 5, Pompey notes, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Harris was a +11 in 49 minutes of action. “Coach drew up some opportunities for me early on to get me going,” Harris said. “And I think that was just big for myself and overall, and just getting into a rhythm and getting into a flow out there.”

Suns Notes: Booker, Gordon, Beal

April 30th, 2024 at 9:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Don’t believe the rumor that Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker wants to be moved to the Knicks, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports reports.

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith claimed on an episode of First Take that Booker “wants to be in New York.” However, a source in Booker’s camp told Bourguet that these rumors are unequivocally false.

The Knicks have been interested in acquiring Booker since Leon Rose became their team president. Rose would like to pair him up with Jalen Brunson, according to Bourguet, and would be willing to do just about anything to make it happen. But the Knicks’ interest in Booker is one-sided, Bourguet writes, as the All-Star guard is loyal to the Suns and likes the idea of sticking with one team his entire career.

We have more on the Suns:

Several Phoenix players hold contract options for next season and none will be watched more closely than Eric Gordon. According to the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin, Gordon hasn’t made a decision on his player option. “There’s no way I’m going to make a decision right now,” Gordon said. “Just enjoy the offseason, watch a lot of these games, see what everybody is doing. We still have a talented team. We just got to jell and mesh together, but I’m not going to make a decision right now.” It’s generally expected that Gordon will decline his $3.36MM option and look for a more lucrative deal.
Bradley Beal fully expects that the team’s big three – himself, Booker and Kevin Durant – will be more dangerous next postseason, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes relays. “We didn’t look at this thing as a one-year thing and we’re going to come in and just, we only got this year to figure it out,” Beal said. “No, we’ve got time. You don’t want to use that as a cop-out, but the reality we live in, that’s the game plan. We have a window. Yeah, it’s a short window, but we have a window, so we want to maximize it as much as possible. And obviously, we still have a lot of room to grow.”
In case you missed it, Booker and Durant spoke about the value of continuity in the aftermath of getting swept in the playoffs.

Knicks’ Bojan Bogdanovic To Undergo Season-Ending Foot, Wrist Surgeries

April 30th, 2024 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

3:32pm: The Knicks have confirmed (via Twitter) that Bogdanovic will undergo left foot surgery, announcing that he’ll be reevaluated in three months.

The team’s announcement didn’t mention anything about a procedure on his wrist, though it sounds based on reports as if that will happen as well.

2:52pm: Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic has played his last game of the 2024 postseason, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the veteran will undergo surgeries to address two separate injuries affecting his wrist and foot.

A weekend report indicated that Bogdanovic’s left wrist surgery would likely require offseason surgery, but that he was attempting to play through that injury until the Knicks’ season ended. However, he hurt his left foot during Sunday’s Game 4 win and had already been ruled out for Tuesday’s Game 5 as a result of that new ailment.

Bogdanovic’s foot issue had been described as a contusion, though the fact that it will apparently require surgical treatment suggests there’s more to the diagnosis than that. He reportedly has ligament damage in his wrist.

One of the most notable players on the move at the trade deadline, Bogdanovic headed from Detroit to New York along with Alec Burks in exchange for a package headlined by young wing Quentin Grimes. The hope was that the two veterans would provide scoring and shooting off the Knicks’ bench, but their production dipped following the trade.

Bogdanovic’s 43.0% field goal percentage in 29 regular season games as a Knick would have been a career low, and his 37.0% rate on three-pointers was also well below his career average. He made just 7-of-24 shots (29.2%) in a limited role during the first four games of the series vs. Philadelphia.

While Bogdanovic had only been averaging about 13 minutes per contest in the postseason, his injury further diminishes an already thin Knicks frontcourt. Julius Randle is also out for the season, while Mitchell Robinson is considered day-to-day due to an ankle injury.

Bogdanovic and Robinson are two of only nine players that Tom Thibodeau has used so far in the first round, so if they’re both unavailable, the club will need to either identify a new eighth man or try to close out Philadelphia in Game 5 using a seven-man rotation.

Bogdanovic is under contract for next season, but only $2MM of his $19MM salary is guaranteed.

Celtics’ Brad Stevens Named NBA’s Executive Of The Year

April 30th, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).

In his third season as the Celtics’ head of basketball operations after eight years as the team’s head coach, Stevens put together a dominant Boston roster that posted a 64-18 record, easily the best mark in the NBA, along with a +11.7 net rating, the third-best mark in league history.

The Celtics were coming off a 57-win season in 2022/23, but Stevens shook up the roster drastically last summer, trading away longtime defensive stalwart Marcus Smart in a deal for Kristaps Porzingis, then moving key role players Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams in a a blockbuster for Jrue Holiday as training camps got underway.

Stevens also signed several Celtics players to contract extensions in the past 12 months, including Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Holiday.

Unlike the NBA’s other major awards, the Executive of the Year is voted on by 29 team executives from around the league rather than 99 media members. Stevens received 16 of 29 potential first-place votes, along with six second-place votes and three third-place votes, for a total of 101 points (Twitter link).

The runner-up, Sam Presti of the Thunder, had 47 points, including four first-place votes. Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves also earned the top spot on four ballots en route to a third-place finish (29 points).

Knicks president Leon Rose (27 points; one first-place vote) was the only other executive to earn more than 11 points, though Nico Harrison (Mavericks) and Monte McNair (Kings) also received first-place votes, while Rockets general manager Rafael Stone earned a pair of them. A total of 13 executives showed up on at least one ballot.

Former Raptors Duo Keys Knicks' Defense

April 29th, 2024 at 7:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Raptors teammates OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa were instrumental in the Knicks’ defensive effort during their Game 4 win over the Sixers on Sunday. They guarded Joel Embiid a majority of the time with Isaiah Hartenstein in foul trouble and Mitchell Robinson sidelined by an ankle injury.

The Knicks’ frontcourt duo also made the right reads in rotations and pick-and-rolls, SNY TV’s Ian Begley notes. “I don’t know how to (explain it),” Achiuwa said. “It’s a feel thing between me and OG. When we’re involved in a defensive action, I understand what he wants to do, we read off each other and play off each other that way. … That’s kind of what played into it.”

While Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was setting a franchise record for playoff points in a single game, Sixers counterpart Kyle Lowry only made one field goal in Game 4, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. Lowry, an unrestricted free agent after the season, is averaging 10.5 points and 4.0 assists per game in the series.
Offensive rebounding was a key to the Knicks’ victory on Sunday. They grabbed 15 for the game, including seven in the fourth quarter. They outscored the Sixers 21-6 on second-chance opportunities. “That’s what they do,” 76ers forward Kelly Oubre told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “Like I said, Jalen (Brunson) is putting up all the shots, but at the end of the day, like that’s what he’s supposed to do. And then everybody else is supposed to crash the glass like mad men.”