Sixers Rumors

Sixers Sign Justin Robinson

The Sixers have signed guard Justin Robinson, who was acquired by the team’s G League affiliate off waivers last January, the team announced today.

As expected, the deal is an Exhibit 10 contract, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets.

Robinson appeared in 33 G League games with Delaware and Capital City last season, averaging 14.2 points, 6.2 assists and 31.2 minutes per game. He also played nine brief games with the Wizards, scoring a total of 13 points in 49 minutes.

Robinson, 23, went unselected in the 2019 NBA Draft after spending four seasons at Virginia Tech. He quickly agreed to a deal with Washington, joining the team for summer league and sticking with the franchise until he was waived in January.

The Sixers are now carrying 20 players for training camp. The team has yet to formally announce its trade with the Thunder involving Al Horford, which will reportedly bring back Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson in return.

Doc Rivers Urged Austin Not To Sign With Sixers

The Sixers were interested in signing free agent guard Austin Rivers before his father, new Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers, decided a reunion wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Rivers coached his son for three and a half years with the Clippers and thought it was best that Austin remain independent.

“He was high on Philly’s list before I took the job,’’ Doc Rivers said. “It was one of the guards they wanted. When I took the job, I said, ‘You don’t want that. You got too many other things we have to deal with.’ For Austin it’s better. He’s his own player. Unfortunately for him, me being the dad, he’s just an easy guy to target. I have felt since the separation, it’s been really good for him.’’

Rivers reached a three-year, $10MM agreement with the Knicks and was acquired from the Rockets in a sign-and-trade deal. That came after he turned down a player option with Houston that would have paid him the veteran’s minimum of $2.4MM.

Doc Rivers, who played for the Knicks in the 1990s, stayed with Austin during free agency and explained the benefits of playing in New York City.

“I kept telling him, ‘New York is a great place,’’’ Doc Rivers said. “I had a great experience there. That’s what I shared with him. It’s a tough city — in a positive way. He said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ I said, ‘It’s similar to Boston and Philly. Their fans are real. They want you to play hard, give you everything you can and play like a team.’ I told him, ‘The Knicks fans are still Red Holzman’s Knicks fans. They remember how that basketball was played. They want team basketball, hard-nosed, tough basketball.’”

Berman notes that the Knicks tried to attract Austin when he was a free agent in 2015, including a dinner with former team president Phil Jackson, but Doc Rivers convinced the Clippers to give him a contract that was a year longer than New York’s offer.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who served on Rivers’ coaching staff in Boston, is among the beneficiaries of Austin choosing New York this time. He spoke to Doc Rivers about his son before the deal was reached.

“Tom just likes competitive players — always has,’’ Doc Rivers said. “We’re very similar — give us 12 competitors, we’ll figure it out. Whenever we talked about Austin — and we will a lot less now — Thibs loves competitors.’’

Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey Signs Rookie Contract

The Sixers have signed first-round pick Tyrese Maxey, the team announced in a press release. A 6’3″ guard out of Kentucky, Maxey was the 21st overall selection in last month’s draft.

Terms of the deal were not released, but as a first-round pick Maxey is eligible to earn up to 120% of the rookie scale, which would be $2,478,840 for the upcoming season.

Maxey played one season for the Wildcats, earning a spot on the All-SEC Second Team and the SEC All-Freshman Team. He averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31 games.

Now that Maxey is officially under contract, there are no outstanding rookie deals still to be completed for 2020 first-round picks. Twenty-nine of those 30 players have signed their first NBA contracts, with the 30th player – Leandro Bolmaro – remaining in Barcelona for the 2020/21 season.

JaMychal Green Drew Interest From Sixers Before Joining Nuggets

  • The Clippers, Lakers, Spurs, Sixers, and Bucks were among the teams that had interest in JaMychal Green in free agency, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post, but the veteran forward ultimately chose the Nuggets. Green cited the Nuggets’ unselfish play, young talent, and tenacity in explaining his decision. “Blowing a 3-1 lead, they just fought,” Green said, referring to Denver’s Western Conference Semifinals win over his Clippers. “It just showed you the type of heart they had.”

Sixers Sign Lamine Diane To Exhibit 10 Contract

The Sixers have officially signed undrafted rookie Lamine Diane, with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey posting a message on Twitter welcoming him to the organization. Diane’s deal with Philadelphia is an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

A 6’7″ forward, Diane put up monster numbers for Cal State Northridge in his two college seasons, averaging 25.1 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in a total of 52 games (35.5 MPG). He won the Big West Player of the Year award in consecutive years before declaring for the draft this spring.

Although Diane wasn’t drafted on November 18, he’ll head to training camp with the 76ers and should have a chance to land with the team’s G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats – if he doesn’t make the regular season roster.

The Sixers now project to have a full 20-man roster once they sign first-rounder Tyrese Maxey and complete their agreed-upon Al Horford trade with Oklahoma City.

Contract Details For Justin Anderson, Ryan Broekhoff

  • Justin Anderson‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Sixers has a $125K partial guarantee in year one, while Ryan Broekhoff‘s one-year, minimum-salary deal with the club is non-guaranteed, according to Smith (Twitter links).

Atlantic Notes: Howard, Milton, Raptors, Konate

Dwight Howard took a major step toward repairing his reputation last season with the Lakers, and now the Sixers are giving him a chance to move even further in that direction, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. After a brilliant start to his career that included eight consecutive All-Star appearances, Howard devolved into a journeyman who is now on his sixth team in six years.

He became known as a player who was more interested in joking around than winning and had disputes with teammates and coaches along the way. But Howard showed he could still be serious by earning a roster spot after signing a non-guaranteed deal with L.A. and contributing to the team’s title run as a big man off the bench. Philadelphia is counting on a similar performance as he becomes a back-up and mentor to Joel Embiid.

“Showing him some of the things that I learned over the years, the pitfalls, the things that bring you down,” Howard said of his expected relationship with Embiid, “and also that really (elevate) you up. Not just doing that through words, really through my actions.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
  • The Sixers have high expectations for Shake Milton, who moved into the starting lineup midway through last season. During a Reddit chat with fans Friday night, new team president Daryl Morey talked about the potential of the second-year guard (Twitter link from Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire). “I think the league hasn’t caught up to how good Shake can be,” Morey said. “It was one of the first things (new head coach Doc Rivers) and I spoke about after I joined — we are excited to see what he can do this year.”
  • The signing of Aron Baynes should improve the Raptors’ defensive rebounding, states Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Assessing areas where the team got better and worse during the offseason, Murphy notes that Baynes has the greatest defensive rebounding impact in the league since the 2015/16 season. Alex Len, another free agent addition, grabbed 25.2% of defensive rebounds last year, which would have been the best rate on the Raptors.
  • Sagaba Konate, who played for the Raptors‘ G League affiliate last year, has signed with PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greek A1 league for the rest of the season, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Konate began the season with Casademont Zaragoza in Spain.

Sixers Sign Isaiah Joe To Three-Year Deal

The Sixers have signed second-round pick Isaiah Joe, according to the Real GM Transactions Page.

The former Arkansas guard inked a three-year deal with the first two seasons guaranteed for a total of $2.4MM, writes Kevin McPherson of KARK.com. The total value of the deal is nearly $4.2MM if Joe remains on the roster for 2022/23. Philadelphia completed the signing using its mid-level exception.

Joe, 21, was selected with the 49th pick in this year’s draft. He played two seasons at Arkansas, averaging 16.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore.

Philadelphia also completed two-way contracts with Paul Reed and Dakota Mathias, along with the signings of Derrick Walton Jr., Ryan Broekhoff and Justin Anderson.

Sixers Agree To Two-Way Deal With Paul Reed

The Sixers will sign 2020 second-round pick Paul Reed to a two-way deal, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic. Philadelphia selected the DePaul product with the 58th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

In his junior campaign with DePaul in 2020/21, Reed averaged 15.1 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 2.6 BPG, all totals that far exceeded his previous two seasons with the school. The standout numbers earned Reed a second-team All-Big East selection and being named the Most Improved Player in the Big East. Despite mixed rankings, Reed was even touted by Shams Charania as a “projected first-round pick.”

Philadelphia has now filled out its two-way slots in agreeing to terms with Reed and G League guard Dakota Mathias, who inked his deal last week. During the shortened 2020/21 campaign, two-way players will be allowed to play in up to 50 of their team’s games.

Sixers To Sign Swingman Justin Anderson To Camp Deal

The Sixers are signing swingman Justin Anderson to a partially-guaranteed contract, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. He’ll try to earn a roster spot during training camp.

It’s a two-year contract, Pompey adds in a subsequent update, with the first year having the partial guarantee.

Anderson signed with the Nets as a substitute player prior to the restart. He saw action in seven seeding games and three postseason contests. He averaged 6.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 9.3 MPG during those playoff appearances.

Anderson also signed a 10-day contract with the Nets in January and averaged 1.0 PPG in three games before being released by the organization. He also spent part of the season with Brooklyn’s G League affiliate in Long Island. A first-round pick by the Mavericks in 2015, Anderson had brief stops with the Sixers and Hawks as well.