The Sixers weren’t able to pry Kyle Lowry away from the Raptors at last month’s trade deadline, but they plan to renew their pursuit of the veteran guard this offseason, sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic.
As Amick explains, while the 76ers addressed their point guard spot by acquiring George Hill at the deadline, Hill has an expiring contract in 2021/22 and only has a partial guarantee ($1.28MM of $10MM+), so he’s not necessarily viewed as a long-term answer in that role.
The Sixers project to be over the cap this summer, so they’d need to negotiate a sign-and-trade in order to land Lowry, Amick notes. Completing such a deal would be a challenge — Philadelphia wouldn’t want to include Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, or Tobias Harris in an offer for Lowry, but those three players earn a combined $100MM next season.
Teams that acquire a player via sign-and-trade become hard-capped at the tax apron for the rest of the league year. This year’s tax apron was $139MM and next season’s won’t be significantly higher, so the Sixers would be hard-pressed to accommodate lucrative contracts for Embiid, Simmons, Harris, and Lowry and fill out the rest of their 15-man roster without surpassing that threshold.
Landing Lowry at a rate far lower than his current $30MM salary would be an ideal scenario for the Sixers, but the six-time All-Star reportedly won’t be looking to take a pay cut, and he’s expected to be a popular target on this offseason’s free agent market, one general manager tells Amick.
“There’s teams with money and not a lot of players, so I think he’s going to do really well,” the GM said of Lowry.
The Raptors are also expected to make an effort to re-sign Lowry, and the Heat were known to be interested last month — Miami should have enough cap room to make a serious play for the 35-year-old if they so choose.
April 27th, 2021 at 10:14pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
Veteran Sixers reserve center Dwight Howard said on Monday that he feels like he is being “targeted” by league officials, per Marc Narducci of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Narducci notes that the former Defensive Player of the Year will get a one-game suspension with his next technical foul. He currently has 15 technical fouls.
Since the NBA’s 10-day signing window for the 2020/21 season officially opened in February, a total of 54 separate 10-day deals have been finalized. Many of those signings have be completed since the trade deadline passed a month ago — 36 10-day contracts have been signed in April alone.
With so much action on the 10-day market, we’re taking a little time today to check in on the 10-day deals that are still active, exploring which of those players are eligible for additional 10-day contracts and which teams are still shuttling players in and out of their back-end roster spots.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Charlie Brown (runs through 5/4)
These players will all be eligible for a second 10-day contract once their current deals expire. In the case of Brown, it’s possible the Thunder would just sign him to a rest-of-season deal if they’re comfortable keeping him around, since a second 10-day deal would run through at least May 14. The regular season ends on May 16.
These players won’t be eligible for a new 10-day contract when their current deals expire, since a player can’t sign three 10-day deals with the same team in a single season. It’s a safe bet that some of these players will receive rest-of-season contracts though — I’d be shocked if the Raptors let Gillespie get away, for instance.
Any team here that opts not to re-sign a player to a rest-of-season contract would open up a roster spot, which could be used on another 10-day trial before the regular season ends. Golden State and Portland are carrying just 14 players at the moment, so they’d have each two open roster spots if they don’t re-sign Payton and Hollis-Jefferson, respectively.
There are a handful of other teams that could still take advantage of the 10-day contract before the end of the season. The Heat, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, and Wizards all have at least one open roster spot.
The Heat and Pelicans are right up against the luxury tax line and may be done with 10-days for the season, preferring rest-of-season commitments if and when they fill their roster openings. The Wolves, Spurs, and Wizards may end up going that route too, but for now they’re still decent candidates for 10-day signings.
The Kings, meanwhile, had Damian Jones on a pair of 10-day contracts before his second deal expired on Monday night. Head coach Luke Walton spoke positively about Jones’ contributions to the team, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee relays (via Twitter), so the veteran center could end up getting a rest-of-season contract. If so, Sacramento would have a full roster and would likely be done with 10-days for the season.
The top tier of the Eastern Conference has been clearly defined for months, as the Nets, Sixers, and Bucks separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the first half and have maintained that cushion for most of the 2020/21 season. With the postseason fast approaching, those three clubs look like the best bets to come out of the conference and represent the East in the 2021 NBA Finals.
Brooklyn is the odds-on favorite to win the East at this point. The Nets have had all three of their stars – Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving – healthy and available just seven times this season, but they still sit atop the conference standings with a 41-20 record. If they can play this well with just one or two of their stars on the court, it’s a reasonable assumption that the Nets will be an even tougher out in the playoffs once they have all three back.
Still, while Durant, Harden, and Irving are all expected to be ready to go for the postseason, that’s certainly not a lock. Durant has been limited to just 25 games as he has dealt with various injuries this season, Harden recently experienced a setback in his recovery from a hamstring strain, and Irving has a long history of health issues. Even if all three stars are available, their lack of minutes together to date could result in some growing pains when the stakes are highest. And Brooklyn’s 24th-ranked defense could be a concern in the postseason too.
The Sixers, at 39-21, currently hold the No. 2 seed in the East, and will also be counting on good health luck once the playoffs get underway. When he has been on the court, Joel Embiid has played like an MVP this season, but his injury history is a concern. While Ben Simmons is a legit Defensive Player of the Year candidate and Tobias Harris is having perhaps his best season as a pro, the Sixers’ ceiling hinges on Embiid’s availability.
The Bucks, meanwhile, have flown somewhat under the radar this season after leading the NBA in wins for two consecutive years. At 37-23, they appear to be focused less on piling up regular season victories and more about preparing for the postseason. With Jrue Holiday now in the mix, the Bucks – who are the only one of the East’s top three teams with both an offensive and defensive rating in the NBA’s top 10 – have a more versatile and more dangerous closing lineup than they’ve had in recent years.
According to the oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag, no other Eastern team is better than a 16-to-1 shot to come out of the conference. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on some of the dark horses, since we saw the fifth-seeded Heat knock off three higher seeds in last year’s playoffs to make the Finals.
This year’s Heat have a pretty similar roster, but they’re currently ranked just seventh in the East at 32-29, putting them in position for a play-in spot. They have the same record as the No. 6 Celtics, the team Miami beat in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The C’s have underachieved a little this season, but if Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker are all clicking at the same time, they can hold their own against just about any team.
While Miami and Boston are more battle-tested in the postseason, they’re currently trailing the upstart Knicks and Hawks, who rank fourth and fifth in the Eastern standings. The two 34-27 squads are among the hottest teams in the league — New York has won nine straight games while Atlanta has won 20 of its last 27. Neither club has a ton of playoff experience, but if they can hang onto their current spots in the standings, at least one of them will make the second round.
What do you think? Which team do you expect to represent the Eastern Conference in this year’s NBA Finals?
Sixers guard Ben Simmons missed his fourth straight game today with flu-like symptoms, but he’s showing signs of recovery, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Coach Doc Rivers provided an update this afternoon, though he’s not sure when Simmons might be healthy enough to start playing again.
“I talked to Ben (Friday) and this morning,” Rivers said. “All I ask is how he’s feeling. I didn’t ask like, ‘Hey, how are you feeling? You know, when are you coming back?’ I don’t typically do that. I’ve always learned they’ll tell us, the trainers will tell us. And then the players will tell us.”
Rivers added that Simmons’ illness isn’t related to COVID-19, and blood work has indicated that he’s suffering from the flu.
There’s more on the Sixers:
Rookie power forward Paul Reed missed today’s game after being placed in the league’s health and safety protocols, Pompey adds. Rivers declined to provide any more details, but said he’s not concerned that other players might be at risk of catching the virus. “If it was (contagious), then the team would be in protocol,” he said. “So the NBA always does the contact tracing and all that stuff, and we’re good there.”
Dwight Howard picked up his 15th technical foul of the season today, meaning one more will result in an automatic one-game suspension. Rivers questioned the technical, saying Howard was singled out because of his history with officials, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic. “I thought Dwight’s tech was pure reputation,” Rivers told reporters. “… There is not another player on the floor, in my opinion, that would have gotten a tech for the same thing Dwight did. Not one player would have gotten that tech.”
Tobias Harris has registered the second-highest jump in efficiency in the NBA this season, and Louis Zatzman of FiveThirtyEight contends that the roster changes the Sixers made helped Harris refine his game.
During a wide-ranging conversation with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Suns point guard Chris Paul spoke about the presentation the Thunder made to him back in 2019 when they first acquired him from Houston.
As Paul explains, and as Amick has heard from sources, Oklahoma City presented CP3 with a comprehensive plan for how the team aimed to reduce his minutes and keep him healthy after he had dealt with multiple injuries as a Rocket. Although Paul listened to and appreciated the pitch, he wasn’t on board with the Thunder’s proposed approach, having made his own changes to his body, his routine, and his diet that he hoped would allow him to stay healthy without requiring a “load management” plan.
“At the end of the PowerPoint presentation, I said, ‘You know, I appreciate y’all coming out here, but one thing I just realized is y’all don’t know me. I don’t do premeditated rest and all this,'” Paul told Amick. “… They were looking out for me (because) they probably felt I was injury prone coming from Houston, you know? They were like, ‘You’ve played 56 games the past couple years,’ you know? I had already told them about the changes and all the stuff I made. But I get it. They hadn’t seen it.”
Paul ended up missing just two games during his year with the Thunder and raved about the organization on his way out. According to Amick, when Oklahoma City shopped the All-Star point guard last fall, the club was willing to send him somewhere he wanted to go, even if it meant taking a little less in return. Sources tell The Athletic that the Sixers believed they gained some traction on a possible deal, but Paul didn’t reciprocate Philadelphia’s interest and the Suns ultimately won out.
Here are a few more highlights from Amick’s conversation with Paul, which is worth checking out in full if you’re an Athletic subscriber:
On how his time with the Rockets ended:
“(Then-Rockets general manager) Daryl Morey had just told me a couple weeks before that that he wouldn’t trade me, that he wouldn’t trade me (to Oklahoma City). I think a lot of guys in this league, you play for a while and you feel like the team at least owes you a conversation, you know what I mean? Like, of course they can do whatever they want to. You’re under contract, but just to have a conversation with you is respectful enough, I feel. So when that didn’t happen in Houston, it was what it was.”
On potential offseason free agency and whether he might finish his career with the Suns:
“I mean first and foremost, I love it here. I don’t know how many years I’ve got left. I don’t really think about that either. I feel too good.
“Seriously, this summer, I have no clue. As much as I’m involved in the union and stuff like that, I don’t know what anybody’s teams are, (what their) caps are, I don’t know none of that stuff. I just play.”
On possibly playing for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics:
“Yeah, I’m thinking about it. I’m thinking about it. I don’t know yet. I told (Team USA director) Jerry (Colangelo) I would get with him soon. I’d seen him the other day out here in Phoenix.”
Danny Green‘s inclusion in a potential deal for Kyle Lowry at last month’s trade deadline didn’t make or break those talks, but the Sixers value Green as far more than just an expiring contract and were only willing to attach so many additional assets to him in their offer for Lowry, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes in a look at what Green brings to Philadelphia.
It has been nearly a month since the NBA’s trade deadline passed, but we’ve still seen a flurry of transactional activity during the last four weeks, as teams have signed and waived players ahead of the postseason.
While some clubs have full rosters and seem unlikely to make any changes between now and the end of the regular season, that’s certainly not the case across the board.
With the help of our roster counts tracker, here’s our latest look at open roster spots around the league, as of April 22:
Teams with one or more open 15-man roster spots:
Golden State Warriors
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans (2)
New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
The Heat, Timberwolves, Knicks, and Spurs each have 14 players on standard contracts and one opening on their 15-man rosters. They’re all good bets to sign a 15th man before the season ends, either for developmental purposes or for added postseason depth.
The Warriors and Trail Blazers have 13 players apiece on standard deals, one on a 10-day contract – Gary Payton II for Golden State and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for Portland – and one open spot. Hollis-Jefferson’s 10-day pact runs through next Tuesday, while Payton’s goes through Wednesday. Once those deals expire, the Warriors and Blazers will each have up to two weeks to get back to 14 players.
Since the NBA only allows teams to dip to 13 or fewer players for up to two weeks at a time, the Pelicans are very much on the clock. They’ve been at 13 players for the last nine days, since Isaiah Thomas‘ 10-day contract expired. The expectation is that New Orleans will sign draft-and-stash prospect Didi Louzada as a 14th man by early next week.
Teams whose 15-man rosters are full due to one or more 10-day contracts:
These 10 teams have full 15-man rosters as of today, but that might not last long. The dozen 10-day contracts listed here will begin expiring as soon as tonight (Hall), so if those players aren’t re-signed, the clubs will have roster openings.
The Nets will also fall into this group once they officially waive LaMarcus Aldridge and sign Mike James to a 10-day deal.
Teams with an open two-way contract slot:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors
The Suns have only carried a single two-way player all season long, so there’s no guarantee they’ll fill their second slot before the end of the regular season.
The other teams listed here are all better candidates to do so — Cleveland (Lamar Stevens) and Toronto (Yuta Watanabe) just recently promoted two-way players to their respective 15-man rosters, while Minnesota was carrying a pair of two-way players until waiving Ashton Hagans in February.
The Cavs reportedly intend to sign Jeremiah Martin to fill their two-way opening.
The Sixers have signed veteran power forward Anthony Tolliver to a second 10-day contract, the team announced (via Twitter). Tolliver’s first 10-day deal expired on Wednesday night.
Tolliver, who is currently occupying the 15th spot on Philadelphia’s standard roster, appeared in just one game during his first 10 days with the team, going scoreless with a pair of rebounds in 14 minutes in last Friday’s win over the Clippers. We’ll have to see if the 13-year veteran gets a longer look during his new 10-day contract, which will cover the 76ers’ next five games, starting tonight in Milwaukee.
Tolliver’s new 10-day deal will expire on the night of May 1, at which point the Sixers could either sign him to a rest-of-season contract or let him walk.
The Sixers will carry a $110,998 cap hit for Tolliver’s deal, which will pay him $175,668.
Be sure to check out our tracker to keep tabs on all of the currently active 10-day contracts around the NBA.
Traded to Philadelphia from the Thunder in a three-team deal last month, Hill has been rehabilitating from a right thumb sprain that has kept him sidelined since January 24. He underwent surgery to address the sprain in February.
It appears that Hill, who started in Oklahoma City, will have a reserve role behind Seth Curry tonight, as All-Star starting point guard Ben Simmons will sit with an illness, per Pompey (Twitter link).
Hill, the No. 26 pick out of IUPUI by San Antonio in 2008, has enjoyed a lengthy career on a variety of contenders, and should be a welcome addition to the Sixers’ second unit thanks to his shooting and play-making. He enjoyed his most productive seasons with the Spurs, Pacers, and Jazz, but also had stops with the Kings, Cavaliers, and Bucks prior to this season.
The 34-year-old has played in just 14 games during the 2020/21 season, averaging 11.8 PPG and 3.1 APG on a hyper-efficient .508/.386/.840 shooting line.
