- Tyrese Maxey was surprised he slipped to No. 21 in the 2020 draft, the spot where the Sixers snapped him up, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. He thought he might go as high as No. 11 to the Spurs. He also thought the Magic at No. 15 and the Heat at No. 20 would take him. “Miami, Orlando and San Antonio. Those were the three teams I thought would draft me,” Maxey said. “When I started slipping, I was upset, but I kept reminding myself that my dream of getting drafted was coming true.”
Following his disappointing performance in the decisive Game 6 of the Sixers’ playoff series against Miami, James Harden was asked if he’ll opt in to the final year of his contract, Derek Bodner of The Daily Six newsletter tweets.
“I’ll be here,” Harden said after Philadelphia’s 99-90 loss and elimination.
Harden, who has a $47.366MM option on the final year of his contract, indicated back in February that he plans to opt in. He could also decline the option and sign a new contract with the 76ers.
There has been plenty of speculation whether the Sixers would pursue extension talks with Harden after the blockbuster trade with the Nets. Harden’s lack of production in the postseason has put the Sixers in a difficult spot.
Harden, who would be in the final year of a four-year, $171MM contract if he picks up his option, suggested he’d be open to taking less than the max in an extension. Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice tweets.
“Whatever it takes to help this team continue to grow,” he said.
Harden resembled his old superstar self in Game 4 of the series, piling up 31 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He had 22 points and 15 rebounds in the playoff clincher against Toronto.
Otherwise, he didn’t produce at the level Philadelphia hoped. Harden took only two shots in the second half and scored just 11 total points in 43 minutes on Thursday in the Sixers’ last game of the year.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has won his second straight Most Valuable Player Award, topping the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid and the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo by a comfortable margin, the NBA announced in a press release.
Jokic received 65 first-place votes and 875 total points, putting him well ahead of Embiid, who finished second with 26 first-place votes and 706 points. Antetokounmpo came in third with nine first-place votes and 595 points.
Nobody else received a first-place vote, but Suns guard Devin Booker was fourth with 216 points and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was fifth at 146 points. With 100 total voters, the balloting system awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for second, five points for third, three points for fourth and one point for fifth.
Other players receiving votes were the Celtics‘ Jayson Tatum (43 points), the Grizzlies‘ Ja Morant (10), the Warriors‘ Stephen Curry (4), the Suns‘ Chris Paul (2), the Bulls‘ DeMar DeRozan (1), the Lakers‘ LeBron James (1) and the Nets‘ Kevin Durant (1).
Jokic is the 13th player to win MVP honors in back-to-back seasons. He averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 74 games and helped the Nuggets earn the sixth seed in the West despite the absence of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic was named Western Conference Player of the Month twice this season and reached the All-Star Game for the fourth straight year.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported on Monday that Jokic would win the award.
Point guard Kyle Lowry has been ruled out for Thursday’s Game 6 between the Heat and Sixers, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Lowry will travel to Philadelphia tomorrow but won’t play in a potential series-clinching contest for Miami. He re-injured his left hamstring in Sunday’s Game 4 and missed Game 5 on Tuesday.
“Put it this way, you don’t want to play with it,” Lowry said after Game 4, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. “But we’re in a situation in the playoffs where we’re in a hostile environment, we’re in this together no matter what. Just trying to be out there for my guys, no matter what happens, no matter what the situation is.”
Lowry originally injured the hamstring during Game 3 of Miami’s first-round series against Atlanta and wasn’t able to return until Friday’s Game 3 at Philadelphia, a two-week absence. He played 25 minutes in his first game back, but went scoreless while missing all four of his shots from the field. He was on the court for 30 minutes Sunday, posting six points, three rebounds and seven assists on 3-of-10 shooting.
“I appreciate him,” Jimmy Butler said. “We all do. The fact that he wants to play, he wants to compete, he knows our best chance of winning is with him on the floor. We understand that, but we also want our guy to be safe, man. We always have more than enough to win. We always say that. We do believe that.”
Although it would be disappointing for both Lowry and the Heat, Joe Vardon of The Athletic argues that Lowry shouldn’t risk further injury by playing again vs. the Sixers. Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo have proven capable of handling additional responsibilities in Lowry’s absence, Vardon notes.
“For our team, his versatility just really fits,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Oladipo. “His ability to guard multiple positions but also be able to organize a little bit, have that kind of experience and talent when Kyle is out — that could be devastating to some teams. (But) we have a lot of other guys that have been able to step up and Vic is one of them.“
- The stellar play of Jimmy Butler in the Heat/Sixers matchup is a reminder of what could have been for Philadelphia, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Philly famously chose to placate Ben Simmons instead of retaining Butler, even though Butler was (and still is) close with Joel Embiid. Both Simmons and Butler needed the ball and didn’t complement each other well offensively, and the team felt forced to pick between the two, sources tell Shelburne. “When you get into a competition, he understands the full deal — that you have to do it on both ends,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler. “And he’s able to compete with a ferocity and an incredibly stable mind. That is really unique — when it gets the craziest is when he’s really locked in on making sure that it’s solid winning basketball for our team.” The Heat lead the second-round series 3-2, with Butler averaging 26.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals on .534/.318/.842 shooting.
The Nets have a busy summer ahead of them. The futures of point guard Kyrie Irving, reserve guard Patty Mills, wing Bruce Brown, and center Nic Claxton, as well as the team’s coaching and chemistry, are among the big offseason issues facing Brooklyn, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
Lewis wonders if the Nets will want to reward Irving with a long-term contract should he choose to opt out this summer, after what has been a challenging season for the point guard off the court. Lewis notes that Irving has been unavailable for 123 of 226 regular-season contests since signing with Brooklyn in 2019. The team also faces an intimidating luxury tax bill moving forward.
Mills and Irving currently have player options for the 2022/23 season. Claxton is a restricted free agent, while Brown is unrestricted. How many Nets under contract will even be available to start the year is in question, as both Ben Simmons and Seth Curry underwent postseason surgeries, while Joe Harris had two ankle surgeries during the season.
Lewis notes that the Nets, coached by Steve Nash, were swept by the Celtics, coached by former Broolkyn assistant coach Ime Udoka, in the first round. Lewis wonders if Nash can improve as a coach and if he might be willing to hand off the defense to an assistant.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets used all five of their draft picks in 2021. Alex Schiffer and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic take a look at Brooklyn’s rookies for 2021/22: shooting guard Cam Thomas, small forward Kessler Edwards, power forward Day’Ron Sharpe, forward Raiquan Gray and guard Marcus Zegarowski. Schiffer and Vecenie then ponder the younger players’ fits with the club moving forward.
- Sixers All-Star Joel Embiid has shown his historical greatness in his return to Philadelphia while nursing two injuries, writes Derek Bodner of The Daily Six. The center’s outstanding performance in the 76ers’ two home playoff victories in their second-round matchup against the Heat exhibited how his greatness could elevate a supporting cast of at-times ill-fitting parts, opines Bodner. Miami currently leads the series 3-2.
- Following the Sixers‘ 120-85 Game 5 loss in Miami Tuesday night, Philadelphia All-Star big man Joel Embiid reflected on Nuggets center Nikola Jokic besting him for the 2022 NBA MVP award, per Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice (Twitter link). “Obviously, congrats to Nikola, he deserved it, he had an amazing season,” Embiid said. “There’s no right or wrong, there [were] a lot of candidates. It could have gone either way. Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Devin Booker being on the best team in the league by far, so I guess every year it’s all about whatever you guys decided, whatever fits the narrative as far as who’s going to win.”
Joel Embiid won’t be named MVP this season, but that might benefit the Sixers in the rest of the playoffs, writes Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. After a Monday report stated that Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will win the trophy for the second straight season, teammate Georges Niang expects Embiid to be motivated to prove the voters wrong.
“I mean, obviously congratulations to the Joker. But obviously I think you know, Joel deserved it,” Niang said. “But like I’ve said before, now you guys get to see a pissed-off Joel. So, you’re welcome.”
Embiid, who finished second in last year’s MVP race, was a strong candidate again, leading the league in scoring at 30.6 PPG to go along with 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 blocks per night. Coach Doc Rivers was among Embiid’s most vocal supporters, but he admits there’s a strong field of candidates.
“Listen, his résumé was great, and not taking anything away from Jokic either because he’s a hell of a player,” Rivers said. “I do think this whole analytics-driven society, world is out of control at times. Some of the measures they use, like watch the damn game and decide is what I’ve always said. But at the end of the day, if Joel had won, which I thought he should have, there would have been criticism that way, if Giannis (Antetokounmpo) had won. Only one guy can win it, unfortunately.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics big man Al Horford, who wanted to show after an unsuccessful stint in Philadelphia and a stopover in Oklahoma City that he could still play, certainly proved just that on Monday night when he put up 30 points (a personal playoff high) in a crucial victory over Milwaukee, as Andrew Lopez of ESPN and Jay King of The Athletic write. Horford’s big game came at just the right time for the Celtics, who were the only team last offseason that showed interest in trading for him without insisting that the Thunder give up an asset in a deal, says Chris Mannix of SI.com.
- In a discussion with colleague Fred Katz about the Knicks‘ offseason, John Hollinger of The Athletic says he’s not sure he trusts center Mitchell Robinson enough to invest heavily in him, and suggests it might be prudent for the team to delay its decision on RJ Barrett‘s future until 2023. Robinson will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, while Barrett will be extension-eligible.
- It should be a fairly low-stakes summer for the Raptors, since all of their most important players are under contract, but there will still be some roster and contract decisions to make, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes in his offseason primer.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Sixers center Joel Embiid won’t win the Most Valuable Player award, but he’s got a bigger goal to chase, as he told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
- There’s no reason for the Sixers to fire Doc Rivers if they don’t go deeper into the postseason, Joe Vardon of The Athletic argues. Rivers has three years and $24MM left on his contract. Under Rivers’ tutelage, Tyrese Maxey has become a budding star and Embiid has delivered the two best seasons of his career, Vardon notes. The Sixers kept on winning despite the Ben Simmons drama and needed to give up two key role players as well as Simmons in order to bring in James Harden.
Sixers center Joel Embiid won’t win the Most Valuable Player award, but he’s got a bigger goal to chase, as he told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
“Winning a championship is the biggest thing,” the Sixers star said. “And I’ll be honest, I never thought I would be at this level. Coming into the league, I was always like, ‘I’ve got to get a Defensive Player of the Year.’ My defense was always my focus. I’m like, ‘Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year,’ and then, over the years, I’ve gotten (better) offensively.”
In Sunday’s Game 4 win over Miami, the Sixers got to see the version of James Harden they’ve been waiting for, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Harden looked like the perennial MVP candidate he was in Houston as he scored 31 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, and made six three-pointers, his most in a single game since being acquired from the Nets in February.
Harden took control from the start, taking 18 shots and 10 three-point attempts, which marked his second-highest totals in both categories since coming to Philadelphia. He also shot 10 free throws, the most he’s had in a game since the playoffs began. With two straight wins since Joel Embiid returned, the Sixers are feeling good as they head back to Miami in a tied series.
“We’re getting more confident as the series goes on,” Harden said. “Those first two games [were] a blur. But obviously, having Joel and having our full team, we kind of know what to expect. We know where to execute on both ends of the ball. It just makes the job a lot easier. Think about: We’re still a fairly new team. We’re damn near two months. So when we finally catch a rhythm and finally find something that works, Joel goes off for a couple games. So we’re finally settling into the series, and we’ve had some great things that have worked tonight and that we can capitalize off in Game 5.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics‘ turnaround can be traced to a January game at Washington, Bontemps observes in a separate story. Coming off a tough loss to the Trail Blazers, Boston took advantage of Jayson Tatum‘s 51-point night in a rout of the Wizards. From that point through the end of the regular season, the Celtics posted the NBA’s best record at 28-7 and led the league in both offensive and defensive rating. “After that game, we just had this mentality and mindset and this sense of urgency that we can feel that a change was starting,” Marcus Smart said. “Once that got rolling, and we got on the right track, it was just smooth sailing from there.”
- Coach Ime Udoka believes the changes the Celtics made at the trade deadline were critical to the team’s success, Bontemps adds. They acquired Derrick White from the Spurs, filling the roles that previously belonged to Josh Richardson and Dennis Schroder. “If I could have picked the guy who would have been the perfect guy to come in and complement our group, it’s [White],” Udoka said. “He’s a better offensive player than J-Rich, and a much better defender than Dennis, so you kind of get those guys combined into one.”
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post traces the significant events involving Nets forward Ben Simmons since he played his last game and suggests there’s increased optimism about next season in the wake of his back surgery.
Grizzlies reserve guard Tyus Jones might be a consolation prize for the Knicks if New York strikes out on Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson in free agency this summer, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Jones has a history with Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, as he was the backup point guard during Thibodeau’s three seasons with the Timberwolves. Berman notes that league sources project Jones to net a deal in the range of the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception, worth $10.2MM this season.
“I love him,’’ one NBA coach said to Berman. “He has to be one of the best backup point guards in the league, if not the best.’’
The 25-year-old out of Duke set a league record for the best assist-to-turnover ratio ever this year of 7.4-to-1 across 73 regular season games. During 21.2 MPG this season, Jones averaged 8.7 PPG on .451/.390/.818 shooting splits, plus 4.4 APG. Though he is not a consistent interior scorer, Jones has proven himself to be a good shooter and effective ball handler.
Jones and the Grizzlies are currently locked into a hotly contested second-round matchup with the Warriors. Golden State leads 2-1.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers center Joel Embiid may be able to will his club to a series victory against Miami thanks in large part to his terrific defensive effort, writes Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Heat made just 35.1% of their field goals in a blowout 99-79 Game 3 Sixers victory Friday. In his first healthy game of the series, Embiid rendered center Bam Adebayo largely ineffective — Adebayo went just 2-of-9 from the floor and was a game-worst minus-22. “What I pride myself on is, really, defensively,” Embiid said. “That’s really one of the reasons why, (by) playing, I thought I could have a huge impact.” David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Embiid’s return has reinvigorated the Sixers on both ends of the floor, and gives them a real shot to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
- Though Embiid proved the driving force behind the Sixers‘ Game 3 win against the Heat, the team is aware it still needs to focus on the road ahead in its second-round series, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Embiid scored 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor and pulled down 11 rebounds. “We’re down 2-1, so we got a long way to go,” Embiid said. “We can’t go down 3-1. So we really need this game on Sunday.”
- In case you missed it, the Celtics are frustrated with the way referees called a late foul during an eventual 103-101 Game 3 loss to the Bucks on Saturday.