- Windhorst believes the Sixers would like to add a shooter — not a star, but someone who can reliably knock down three-pointers and space the floor. While Philadelphia may ultimately turn to the buyout market, the club has several extra second-round picks available if a trade target emerges.
[SOURCE LINK]
No NBA team has played more than four games in the first seven days of the 2019/20 regular season, but only four clubs didn’t lose during that stretch. The Sixers, Nuggets, Spurs, and Timberwolves are all 3-0.
It’s no surprise that Philadelphia and Denver are off to strong starts. Both teams are expected to finish near the top of their respective conferences this season — I had them as the No. 1 seeds in my preseason predictions.
However, the early three-game winning streaks from San Antonio and Minnesota are a little more unexpected. Neither team has had a brutal schedule to start the season, with the Spurs picking up home wins vs. the Knicks, Wizards, and Trail Blazers, while the Wolves won in Brooklyn, in Charlotte, and at home against the Heat.
Still, their hot starts have been promising. Karl-Anthony Towns is putting up MVP-caliber numbers in the early going for the Wolves (32.0 PPG, 13.3 RPG). The Spurs have had a more balanced attack, led by DeMar DeRozan (22.0 PPG) and LaMarcus Aldridge (21.3 PPG, 8.0 RPG) and complemented by players like now-healthy guard Dejounte Murray (14.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 6.0 APG).
The four undefeated teams have the following games on tap as they look to extend their winning streaks to start the season:
- Sixers: vs. Min (10/30), @ Por (11/2), @ Phx (11/4), @ Utah (11/6), @ Den (11/8)
- Nuggets: vs. Dal (10/29), @ NO (10/31), @ Orl (11/2), vs. Mia (11/5), vs. Phi (11/8)
- Spurs: @ LAC (10/31), @ GSW (11/1), vs. LAL (11/3), @ Atl (11/5), vs. OKC (11/7)
- Timberwolves: @ Phi (10/30), @ Wash (11/2), vs. Mil (11/4), @ Mem (11/6), vs. GSW (11/8)
The Spurs have a brutal three-game stretch on tap beginning on Thursday, though at least one of the Sixers or Wolves will have lost a game by that point, as those two teams are set to face one another on Wednesday. Even if the 76ers beat Minnesota, they have a tough Western road trip up next, with games in Portland, Phoenix, and Utah before they’d get a chance to face Denver. Of course, the Nuggets’ schedule isn’t exactly a cakewalk up until that point either, starting tonight vs. Luka Doncic and the Mavs.
What do you think? Which of this season’s undefeated teams will keep its streak going the longest and be the last to lose in 2019/20?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your two cents!
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Every night during the NBA G League season, Hoops Rumors provides the assignments and recalls by each team. With training camps now open, here are Monday’s assignments and recalls from around the G League:
- Bulls swingman Chandler Hutchison was assigned to the Windy City Bulls, the Bulls’ PR department tweets. Hutchison, who recently had his contract option for the 2020/21 season picked up, is working his way back from a hamstring injury.
- As expected, the Grizzlies assigned former lottery pick Josh Jackson to the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ PR department tweets. That was the plan all along when Memphis acquired the former Suns forward this offseason and he attempts to jump-start his career.
- Undrafted rookie guard Jalen Lecque was assigned to Northern Arizona by the Suns, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
- The Jazz assigned Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. The rookie guard out of Yale was selected with the 58th overall pick in June.
- The Timberwolves assigned forward Keita Bates-Diop, guard Jaylen Nowell and center Naz Reid to their Iowa affiliate, according to a team press release. Bates-Diop was a second-round selection last year, while Nowell was chosen in the second round this June. Reid is an undrafted rookie out of LSU.
- The Mavericks assigned rookie forward Isaiah Roby to the Texas Legends, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Roby, who played at Nebraska, was chosen in the second round in June and acquired in a draft-night deal.
- The Sixers assigned swingman Zhaire Smith to the Delaware Blue Coats, the team’s PR department tweets. Smith, a 2018 first-round selection, recently had his 2020/21 contract option picked up by Philadelphia even though he missed most of his rookie campaign due to injuries.
- The Hornets assigned rookie forward Jalen McDaniels to the Greensboro Swarm, according to a team press release. McDaniels, a second-round pick, made his NBA debut on Friday.
- Signing Jamal Crawford could make a lot of sense for the Sixers, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer contends. Crawford, who remains a free agent one week into the NBA season, averaged 7.9 points off the bench for the Suns last year. He’s currently represented by agent Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management.
Al Horford is wearing an opponent’s uniform as the Celtics open their season tonight, but his influence can still be felt in Boston’s locker room, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Horford was an inspirational leader during his three seasons with the Celtics, and he remains close to many of the players who are still there. Marcus Smart said Horford kept texting him even after signing with the Sixers.
“He made my job way easier. His experience helped me out,” Smart said. “He showed me things and taught me things that I had to learn probably on my own like other guys, but I had help from him. Having Al over those years definitely helped me to be a professional and to be more professional.”
The players Bulpett talked to all seem to understand Horford’s decision to leave, even though he landed with a bitter division rival. Philadelphia gave him a four-year, $109MM contract with $97MM guaranteed, which is more than the Celtics were willing to offer.
“That was a smart decision,” Jayson Tatum said. “He got a lot of money, which he deserved. Everybody should do what makes them happy, so I’m happy for Al.”
There’s more Celtics news on opening night:
- Although he might have gotten a bigger contract by waiting for restricted free agency next summer, Jaylen Brown likes the security of signing with the Celtics now, tweets Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Brown’s negotiations went down to the wire before he agreed to a four-year, $115MM rookie scale extension on Monday. “Boston is a top-five organization in this league,” Brown said. “Once I got to look at the offer in front of me, it was easy.”
- Executives around the league had a mixed response to Brown’s extension, according to Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston. One thought it was too much money to commit, while another understands because it includes $12MM in incentives. An agent questioned why the team felt it was necessary to reach a deal now rather than waiting for the summer.
- Kemba Walker tells A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston that he’s ready for life in a bigger market with greater expectations. “This is what I wanted, the opportunity I wanted,” Walker said. “I’m happy to be here.”
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides some financial details on the rookie scale extensions signed on Monday, outlining (via Twitter) exactly how much bonus money is included in five of those deals. Marks also identifies four players who will receive increased partial guarantees as a result of remaining under contract with their respective teams through Wednesday (Twitter link). Those players are Christian Wood (Pistons), Jordan McRae (Wizards), Kendrick Nunn (Heat), and Trey Burke (Sixers).
1:01pm: In a press release, Philadelphia has confirmed all the roster moves detailed below and announced a couple more. According to the Sixers, in addition to signing and waiving Washburn, Alston, and Harris, they also signed and waived guards Jared Brownridge and Xavier Munford.
Brownridge played for the Delaware Blue Coats last season and Munford’s rights were acquired by Delaware last month, so they’d both be returning-rights players for the Blue Coats.
10:23am: The Sixers have signed and subsequently waived Julian Washburn, Shizz Alston Jr., and Terry Harris, according to reports. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) first reported the signings, while Derek Bodner of The Athletic (Twitter link) indicated that all three players had already been released.
Alston is a 6’4″ guard who went undrafted out of Temple this spring after averaging 19.7 PPG and 5.0 APG as a senior. Harris, another undrafted rookie, is the younger brother of Sixers forward Tobias Harris. The former North Carolina A&T swingman played for the 76ers’ Summer League team in July.
As for Washburn, the 6’8″ forward spend much of the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Grizzlies before he was dealt to Golden State in the Andre Iguodala deal. The Warriors waived him and the Sixers’ G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats – acquired his returning rights last month.
Alston and Harris will join the Blue Coats as affiliate players, while Washburn will be a returning-rights player for the squad. As a result of their brief stays on the Sixers’ roster, they should also be eligible for Exhibit 10 bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days in Delaware.
The Sixers had cleared space on the roster for these three players by waiving Isaiah Miles, Christ Koumadje and Haywood Highsmith, as we detailed on Friday night.
The Sixers are waiving Isaiah Miles, Christ Koumadje and Haywood Highsmith, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
That will reduce their roster to 17 players. There are no surprises with these moves, as all three had non-guaranteed contracts. Trey Burke has a partially guaranteed deal, while 14 others have full guarantees to go along with Philadelphia’s two-way players.
The Sixers hold the G League rights to the trio and they’re expected to play for the Delaware Blue Coats.
Miles, who went undrafted out of St. Joe’s in 2016, has played professionally overseas during the last three years. The 6’7” forward has spent time with teams in France and Turkey, having played for Limoges CSP in 2018/19.
The 7’4″ Koumadje, a Florida State alum, played for Philadelphia’s summer league team after going undrafted. He played four seasons with the Seminoles and started all 37 games as a senior.
Highsmith, a small forward who went undrafted out of Wheeling Jesuit in 2018, signed a two-way contract with Philadelphia in January and spent the remainder of his rookie season with the 76ers and the Blue Coats.
- The Sixers were interested in acquiring Josh Richardson last season from the Heat before they traded for Jimmy Butler, Michael Lee of The Athletic reports. The Sixers were open to being a third party when the Heat were in trade talks with the Timberwolves for Butler with Philadelphia targeting Richardson. When those talks collapsed, the Sixers eventually worked out a trade for Butler. Those two swingmen were the main components of the sign-and-trade this summer when Butler agreed to join Miami.
The Sixers have exercised the third-year option on Zhaire Smith‘s rookie contract, a source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The move ensures that Smith’s $3,204,600 cap hit for the 2020/21 season is now fully guaranteed.
Smith, the 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft, missed most of his rookie season due to health issues but suited up for Philadelphia for six games, averaging 6.7 PPG and 2.2 RPG with a .412/.375/.750 shooting line. He’ll be vying with the likes of James Ennis, Matisse Thybulle, and Furkan Korkmaz for wing minutes off the bench in 2019/20.
With Smith’s third-year option now locked in, the 76ers will have to decide by October 31, 2020 whether to pick up his fourth-year option for the 2021/22 season.
For a breakdown of all of this year’s rookie scale option decisions, be sure to check out our tracker.