- It’s been a season of streaks for the Sixers. After starting out 5-0, the 76ers have lost three straight games on a Western Conference road trip, falling to the fifth seed in the East. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer posits that the Sixers’ current troubles can be credited to their summer roster overhaul, and that they have too many new faces for continuity at present. New power forward Al Horford and long-term starting center Joel Embiid are still developing their on-court chemistry. When questioned about the team’s recent struggles, Horford observed, “What’s going to help us is the more games we continue to play, the more we get used to playing with one another, everything is going to come together.”
The Designated Veteran Extension, as we explain our glossary entry on the subject, is a relatively new addition to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. It allows players with 7-9 years of experience, who would normally qualify for a maximum starting salary of 30% of the cap, to qualify for a “super-max” contract that starts at 35% of the cap, a level normally reserved players with 10+ years of experience.
A player who has seven or eight years of NBA service with one or two years left on his contract becomes eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension if he meets the required performance criteria and hasn’t been traded since his first four years in the league. A Designated Veteran contract can also be signed by a player who is technically a free agent if he has eight or nine years of service and meets the required criteria.
The performance criteria is as follows (only one of the following must be true):
- The player was named to an All-NBA team and/or was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
- The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
With those criteria in mind, it’s worth keeping an eye on the players who could qualify for a super-max veteran contract with their play this season. Let’s dive in and examine a few of those guys…
Players who already qualify for a super-max contract:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Antetokounmpo met the performance criteria for the super-max when he won last season’s MVP award. Gobert did so by winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2018 and then being named to the All-NBA team in 2019 — his second consecutive DPOY award in ’19 merely put an emphatic stamp on his eligibility.
However, neither Antetokounmpo nor Gobert can actually sign a Designated Veteran Extension yet, since they must have seven years of NBA experience under their belts.
Each player is in his seventh season now, but years of experience aren’t officially added until the very end of the league year. In other words, the Bucks and Jazz stars will have to wait until next July to officially sign super-max extensions.
We know the Bucks will put that offer on the table for Giannis, but we’re not sure yet whether he’ll sign it. It also remains to be seen if the Jazz will make the same offer to Gobert. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection for 2021/22 ($125MM), each player would be eligible for $253.75MM over five years.
Players who could qualify for a super-max contract by meeting the criteria in 2019/20:
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- Andre Drummond (Pistons)
Technically, any player who earns an All-NBA spot in 2019/20 and meets the contract criteria can qualify for a super-max, but the two players listed above are probably the only legitimately viable candidates. Thunder center Steven Adams, for instance, would become eligible for a super-max extension by earning an All-NBA spot, but that’s probably not happening.
Even Drummond might be a long shot, but if he can maintain the numbers he has posted in his first nine games (21.9 PPG, 18.6 RPG, 2.2 BPG), he’ll be in the conversation. So far, he’s outplaying last year’s All-NBA First Team center Nikola Jokic, who is off to a slow start.
Embiid, last season’s All-NBA Second Team center, looks like a safer All-NBA bet as long he stays healthy. He earned his spot in 2018/19 despite playing just 64 games, so if he can match or exceed that number this season with similar production, look for him to become super-max eligible.
Drummond is in his eighth NBA season, while Embiid is only in his sixth. So if Drummond were to earn All-NBA honors this season, he’d become eligible to immediately sign a super-max contract. Declining his player option and signing a five-year Designated Veteran contract would put Drummond in line for a deal worth $235.48MM based on the league’s latest cap projection for 2020/21 ($116MM). Though of course, there’s no guarantee the Pistons would be willing to go quite that high.
As for Embiid, if he makes an All-NBA team this season, he’ll be in a similar situation to the one Giannis and Gobert are in now — super-max eligible based on his performance criteria, but not yet on his contract criteria. He’d have to wait until the 2021 offseason to sign that extension. I expect the Sixers will be ready to do a super-max deal if he keeps playing at this level and doesn’t suffer any more major injuries.
It’s also worth mentioning Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns in this group. They’ll only have five years of NBA experience apiece after this season, so they wouldn’t be able to sign super-max extensions until the 2022 offseason. Technically though, one of them could meet the required performance criteria as early as this spring by winning the MVP award.
Players who can no longer qualify for a super-max contract:
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- Bradley Beal (Wizards)
- Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
There are many other players who could be added to this list, but these are the three who would otherwise be strong candidates to qualify the super-max if they hadn’t already become ineligible based on one of the required criteria.
In Beal’s case, he opted to sign a standard veteran extension this fall rather than wait to see if he’d make an All-NBA team this season and become eligible for the super-max. By the time he’ll be able to opt out of his new deal in the summer of 2022, he’ll have 10 years of experience under his belt, meaning he’ll automatically qualify for the 35% max.
Davis and Oladipo, meanwhile, were traded while playing out their rookie scale contract extensions, making them ineligible for a super-max. Davis would have been able to sign such a deal this past offseason if he had remained with the Pelicans.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NOVEMBER 7, 5:46pm: Simmons will likely miss at least the Sixers’ next three games due to his shoulder sprain, league sources tell Haynes (Twitter link). Derek Bodner of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Simmons will definitely miss Friday’s game vs. Denver and will be re-evaluated prior to Sunday’s game vs. Charlotte.
NOVEMBER 7, 10:13am: An X-ray on Simmons’ right should came back negative, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the 23-year-old will be further evaluated later today.
NOVEMBER 6, 10:48pm: Sixers star Ben Simmons will be re-evaluated Thursday after leaving tonight’s game with what is being called a “minor” AC joint sprain in his right shoulder, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Simmons suffered the injury midway through the first quarter. He took a pass in the high post and collided with Royce O’Neale while spinning to his right.
Simmons tried to shake off the injury and had what appeared to be a heating pad on it after checking out of the game later in the quarter. He re-entered with 6:56 left in the second quarter, but took himself out about a minute and a half later and went straight to the locker room. Pompey states that he seemed to be having trouble moving the arm.
After missing his entire rookie season, Simmons has been very durable the past two years, playing in 81 and 79 games, as well as all seven of Philadelphia’s contests so far this season.
Jimmy Butler‘s departure from the Sixers wasn’t simply a desire to play in Miami. He had some issues in Philadelphia which convinced him not to sign long-term with the organization, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Butler made it known in the days leading up to free agency that he would leave Philadelphia, Haynes continues.
“Nobody knows what really went on in Philly and we’re going to leave it that way,” Butler said. “But it was a great opportunity for me.”
Butler chose the Heat on the first day of free agency and secured a four-year, $141MM contract when the Sixers agreed to a sign-and-trade that involved multiple teams.
Butler said his problems with the Sixers organization had nothing to doing with center Joel Embiid. Butler refused to elaborate what exactly led to his decision.
“All of that will come out whenever it’s time,” he said. “Right now is not the time. I’m locked in with this. I’m happy, man. … I’m not saying Philly wasn’t great, man. We had some really good players. I talk to Joel (daily). It’s a brotherhood, man. I love that guy. I’m going to always have his back and I know he’ll always have mine.”
Butler noted that he wanted to be traded to Miami when he had a falling out with the Timberwolves. He also expressed disdain for critics who believe that he’s not an franchise player.
“(They) act like I’m not a good basketball player,” Butler said. “Like for real. Just think about that. Like I can’t come in and make a huge difference. I’m not going to say ‘carry a team’ because nobody can do it by themselves and I mean that. I’m not putting it all on myself, but I know what I’m capable of.”
In his first three games with the Heat, Butler has averaged 14.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 7.3 APG and 4.3 SPG. His debut was delayed due to the birth of his daughter.
Six days ago, we asked which of the NBA’s four undefeated teams would be the last to lose. One after another, over the next three nights, the Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Spurs removed themselves from that conversation, suffering their first losses of the young season and leaving the Sixers as the last undefeated team standing.
With a one-point win over Portland on Saturday night, the 76ers kept that streak alive, and will enter tonight’s action with a 5-0 record. Buoyed by the NBA’s best rebounding rate and a defense that leads the league in steals, Philadelphia has put together its streak while still finding its way on offense. Now we’ll see how just much longer the club can stay out of the loss column.
Although Saturday’s win over the Trail Blazers was a good one, it was just the start of a challening road trip for the Sixers, who will play in Phoenix tonight, in Utah on Wednesday, and in Denver on Friday.
If Philadelphia can make it through that gauntlet unscathed, the team will be rewarded with winnable home games against the Hornets (November 10) and Cavaliers (Nov. 12) before going back on the road to face Orlando (Nov. 13), Oklahoma City (Nov. 15), and Cleveland again (Nov. 17).
The most likely scenario for the Sixers is dropping one of this week’s road games — the Jazz and Nuggets are expected to be among the West’s best teams, while the Suns are off to a good start and won’t have to face Joel Embiid, who is serving the final game of his two-game suspension tonight.
Plus, over the last few years, the NBA’s last undefeated team typically hasn’t gotten much further than this point without losing. The Bucks started 7-0 in 2018; the Clippers and Spurs went 4-0 in 2017; and the Cavaliers went 6-0 to open the 2016/17 season.
Of course, it wouldn’t be unprecedented for Philadelphia to continue its season-opening win streak into the double digits. In fact, the Warriors did much better than that in the fall of 2015 when they opened the season with an incredible 24-game winning streak. That Golden State squad was also the NBA’s best regular season team of all-time though, finishing the year with a 73-9 record. It seems safe to say the Sixers aren’t on that level.
What do you think? Will the 76ers’ run as the league’s last undefeated team end soon, or can they keep this streak going for at least few more games?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your prediction.
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It hasn’t taken long for Matisse Thybulle to become recognized as one of the NBA’s best defenders, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Defense was the calling card for Thybulle when he was selected with the 20th pick in this year’s draft, and his impact has been immediate. He leads the league in steals at 2.8 per game and is second on the team in blocks with 1.4 per night
“I try not to look at the numbers, because for me all the defensive (ones) just come from hustle and just getting lost in the game,” he said. “So it’s exciting to see the numbers. But do I really worry about them? No.
Every week, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents next offseason. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we take a look at players from the Atlantic Division:
Fred VanVleet, Raptors, 25, SG (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $18MM deal in 2018
VanVleet was a key reserve in the Raptors’ run to the championship. With Danny Green‘s departure, he’s now a backcourt starter alongside Kyle Lowry. Green was mainly a floor spacer, while VanVleet has provided the added element of playmaking to help make up for the enormous loss of Kawhi Leonard. He’s averaging a team-high 7.2 assists through the first five games while getting the line more often and delivering his usual excellent shooting from deep. An unrestricted free agent next summer, VanVleet will attract plenty of attention in a weak FA market.
James Ennis, Sixers, 29, SF (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $4MM deal in 2019
Ennis has bounced around the league, wearing six different uniforms since his rookie year in 2014/15. He saw action in 18 regular-season and 11 postseason games with Philadelphia after being acquired from the Rockets in a trade deadline swap. Thus far this season, Ennis has retained a rotation spot and helped around the boards (5.8 RPG in 14.0 MPG). Ennis has a $2.13MM player option after the season — if can remain a contributor on a contender, perhaps he’ll feel comfortable opting out and testing the market for additional security.
Marcus Morris, Knicks, 30, SF (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $15MM deal in 2019
Morris caused a lot of consternation in the Spurs’ organization by reneging on a two-year verbal agreement and then signing a one-year deal with New York, giving him more money this season and the freedom to explore the market again next year. In his first five games with the Knicks, Morris is the one doing the squawking. He’s already picked up a league-high three technicals. He’s also off to a slow shooting start (35%). It’s hard to see Morris enhancing his value with New York but his expiring contract could be attractive to a contender looking for a frontcourt player.
Daniel Theis, Celtics, 27, PF (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $10MM deal in 2019
Theis’ $5MM salary for next season isn’t guaranteed until July 3rd and there will a number of factors playing into the Celtics’ decision next summer, especially whether Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter opt in. What Theis can control is being productive when he gets opportunities and making it a tougher decision for the front office. Theis needs to have more nights like he did Wednesday, when coach Brad Stevens used him for 28 minutes and he produced 11 points and nine rebounds. The 6’8” Theis will see quite a bit of time at the ‘five’ spot in downsized lineups.
Wilson Chandler, Nets, 32, SF (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $2.56MM deal in 2019
Chandler quietly latched on with the Nets on a veteran’s minimum contract while they inked deals with high-profile free agents Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan. Chandler’s chances of carving out a role in coach Kenny Atkinson‘s rotation was squashed by a 25-game league suspension for a failed PED test. It’s uncertain what Brooklyn plans are for Chandler once he becomes eligible on December 15. However, the suspension won’t make it any easier for his agent to find his client work next summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Sixers managing partner Josh Harris anticipates that the team will be a luxury tax payer for the 2020-21 season, as he told Rich Hofmann of The Athletic in a Q&A session that also included GM Elton Brand.
Harris said there “are definitely issues” that come with being a taxpayer, including some roster restrictions. But he has no qualms about that prospect.
“If that’s what it takes to win, we’re going to do it,” he said.
The luxury tax threshold is approximately $132.6MM and Philadelphia is currently a few million below that number. However, the Sixers already have nearly $144MM in contract guarantees for next season. That’s due in large part to Ben Simmons‘ max extension. He’ll jump from $8.11MM this season to $29MM in the first year of that extension. The combined salaries for Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid and Al Horford next season total up to more than $91MM.
Harris and Brand provided some other interesting insights in the Q&A:
- Harris expects the team to get deeper in the playoffs and everyone is accountable: “I think we all feel some pressure. Elton does. I do. Brett and the players all want to deliver for the city,” he said.
- Harris had hoped Jimmy Butler would re-sign but was impressed by the way the front office shifted gears to re-sign Harris, acquire Josh Richardson in a sign-and-trade with Miami, and bring in high-profile free agent Horford. “He obviously had a lot of choices and we’re happy for him that he’s with a great organization,” Harris said of Butler. “But for us, the job that Elton and his team did to pick up Al Horford and Josh Richardson on the heels of that and to get Josh Richardson back in a sign-and-trade obviously, I watched it from the inside and it was incredible.”
- Brand presents Harris with various scenarios in free agency and trades to spell out how each move would impact the bottom line: Brand told Hofmann how he breaks it down to his boss. “Hey, these are our options. If this happens, I don’t know, but this player could be available, this player could be available, this player could be available. This looks like a 50-win season, this looks like a 55, our penetration could be this in the second round to the Eastern Conference Finals, to the finals. If we lose this player and can’t do a sign-and-trade, we’re going to be here.”
The punishment for the scuffle between Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid has been handed down by the league. Each player will miss the next two games, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The two big men wrestled one another to the ground on Wednesday and were each ejected from the contest. The jabs didn’t stop there, as the star big men exchanged insults via social media later that night. Charania adds that the duo’s suspension was for their on-court altercation and “their continued escalation following the incident.”
Ben Simmons, who held Towns down on the ground as other players pulled Embiid away, will not be suspended for the incident, despite the Wolves pushing back against the notion that he acted as a peacemaker.
Embiid will lose roughly $379K as a result of the conflict while Towns will lose roughly $376K, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The 76ers will play Portland and Phoenix over their next two games while Minnesota faces Washington and Milwaukee.
While Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns were the instigators of Wednesday’s brawl between the Sixers and Timberwolves, they weren’t the only players who jumped in the fray. Ben Simmons was among the players who ended up on the ground with Towns during the fracas, with referees ruling that Simmons was acting as a “peacemaker.” According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Wolves are pushing back on that ruling.
As Wojnarowski details, the Timberwolves are arguing that Simmons had Towns in a “dangerous choke hold” as he pinned him to the floor. Minnesota’s front office was in touch with NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe, sources tell Wojnarowski, and presumably the Wolves would like to see Simmons receive some sort of discipline as a result of the altercation.
According to Michael Lee of The Athletic (Twitter link), people on the Wolves’ side may have been even more upset with Simmons’ actions than Embiid’s, and questioned why he was allowed to stay in the game.
For their part, the Sixers were “adamant” in supporting the referees’ conclusion that Simmons was a peacemaker, per Woj. The 76ers have also been in contact with VanDeWeghe and the league office, telling the NBA that they believe Towns was the aggressor in the fight.
The NBA will review the tape and interview participants and witnesses beginning today as it determines the appropriate punishment for those involved in the brawl, says Wojnarowski. Neither team plays until Saturday, so the league has some time to mull its decisions.
As we detailed in our earlier story on the incident, Embiid and Towns brought the fight to social media after the game, though it’s not clear whether the league will take those tweets and Instagram posts into account when considering discipline.