Sixers Rumors

Sixers Re-Sign Mike Scott To Two-Year Deal

JULY 11: Now that the Sixers’ other major signings are complete, the team has formally announced Scott’s new deal, which will utilize the room exception.

“Mike epitomizes what Philadelphia loves – a fierce competitor with a tireless work ethic, who’s driven by the desire to win,” GM Elton Brand said in a statement. “His toughness, grit and passion are palpable, as the city of Philadelphia has come to know. We are thrilled to have Mike back with the 76ers.”

JUNE 30: The Sixers have agreed to a two-year, $9.8MM deal with free agent Mike Scott, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal features no options, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic.

Scott, a key player off the Sixers’ bench last season, will continue to provide production in the frontcourt for the team. He shot a scorching 41 percent from deep in his 27 games with Philadelphia, averaging a steady 7.8 points per contest.

Sixers general manager Elton Brand quickly worked around losing J.J. Redick and Jimmy Butler on the first night of free agency, bringing back promising guard Josh Richardson from Miami and agreeing to a four-year, $109MM contract with star big man Al Horford.

In addition to Scott, Horford and Richardson, Philadelphia also reached a deal with Tobias Harris to keep him in town, committing four years and $180MM.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sixers Re-Sign Tobias Harris To Five-Year Deal

JULY 10: The Sixers have officially re-signed Harris, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The club has now exhausted its cap room for the summer.

JUNE 30: The Sixers and Tobias Harris have reached an agreement on a five-year deal that will pay the free agent forward $180MM, his agent (and father) Torrel Harris of Unique Sports Management tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The contract won’t include a player option, Woj adds (via Twitter).

After making blockbuster mid-season trades for both Harris and Jimmy Butler during the 2018/19 campaign, the Sixers will only retain one of the two, with Butler reportedly headed for the Heat in a sign-and-trade.

However, in Harris, Philadelphia will be bringing back a forward who received All-Star consideration in 2018/19, as he averaged 20.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .487/.397/.866 shooting in 82 games for the Clippers and Sixers.

He’ll return to a new-look Sixers team that will feature Josh Richardson and Al Horford. Richardson will reportedly be acquired from Miami via the Butler sign-and-trade, while Horford will sign a four-year contract with Philadelphia as a free agent.

If Harris had signed a maximum-salary deal, it would have been worth approximately $189.9MM, so his annual salaries will come in a little below the max. Still, it’s a significant investment for the Sixers, who already have Joel Embiid under contract on a max deal of his own and may soon sign Ben Simmons to a max extension.

Harris reportedly received interest from the Clippers, Jazz, Nets, and Mavericks, among others, in free agency.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sixers Sign Al Horford To Four-Year Deal

JULY 10: The Sixers have made it official, announcing the signing of Horford today in a press release.

“We’re excited to welcome one of the NBA’s best frontcourt players in Al Horford to Philadelphia,” GM Elton Brand said in a statement. “He has built his reputation around hard work and a tradition of winning, which are the same qualities that have formed the foundation of the 76ers. Al’s playmaking, elite defensive talents and veteran leadership confirm why he is a crucial addition to our roster. We have gained a championship-level teammate that will not only complement our current makeup, but will help grow our young core as we strive for the highest level of success.”

JUNE 30: The Sixers have revealed themselves as Al Horford‘s mystery suitor, having reached an agreement with the free agent big man on a four-year, $109MM deal, agent Jason Glushon tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Horford’s four-year pact will actually include $97MM in guaranteed money, with $12MM in bonuses linked to potential championships.

[UPDATE: New details on structure of Horford’s contract]

The Sixers’ deal with Horford is the latest big move in a day full of them for the team. J.J. Redick is headed to New Orleans, and Jimmy Butler is Miami-bound, but the 76ers agreed to re-sign Tobias Harris and will add Josh Richardson in the process of signing-and-trading Butler to the Heat. The club now projects to have a potential starting five made up of Harris, Richardson, Horford, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid.

Horford, 33, averaged 13.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 4.2 APG on .535/.360/.821 shooting in 68 games (29.0 MPG) last season for the Celtics. However, his value extends beyond his numbers — he’s a strong defender who is capable of protecting the rim or switching onto perimeter players, and he keeps opposing defenses on their toes with his ability to pick and pop.

It will be interesting to see how Horford fits alongside Embiid in the Sixers’ frontcourt. While Horford is more of a center, he showed in Boston that he could play next to another center, as the C’s often used a Horford/Aron Baynes combination up front.

Horford had a player option for 2019/20 with the Celtics worth approximately $30MM, but decided to turn down that option in search of a longer-term deal. Rumors quickly began circulating about a four-year, $100MM+ deal for Horford, though it wasn’t clear which team was prepared to offer that sort of deal. The Mavericks, Kings, Pelicans, and Clippers were named as possible Horford suitors, but it was the Sixers that landed him.

According to Keith Smith of RealGM (via Twitter), Wojnarowski said during an appearance on ESPN that the Celtics – who managed to retain Horford’s Bird rights by agreeing to acquire Kemba Walker via sign-and-trade, were willing to go up to four years, but the gap in guaranteed money compared to Philadelphia’s offer was too significant.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Contract Notes: Durant, Jordan, Claxton, Milton, Brazdeikis

Kevin Durant‘s max contract with the Nets includes $4.3MM in likely bonuses, according to Jeff Siegel of EarlyBirdRights.com. It’s not clear how those bonuses can be earned but if they’re based on individual statistics, he can’t reach them next season due to his Achilles injury. His deal also includes a full 15% trade kicker. DeAndre Jordan‘s salary with Brooklyn starts at 9.9MM, rises 5% in the second year, dips back down to 9.9MM, then drops slightly in the fourth year for a total of 40MM, Siegel adds (Twitter links).

We have more contractual news from around the Atlantic Division:

  • The timeline of the Nets’ moves in free agency – signing Kyrie Irving and Jordan to free agent deals using salary-cap room and then acting like a team over the cap to pull off the Durant sign-and-trade with Golden State — also allowed them to give Nicolas Claxton a three-year contract, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Without room, Claxton’s fully guaranteed deal would have been limited to two years. The University of Georgia big man was the first pick of the second round.
  • Shake Milton‘s four-year minimum contract with the Sixers includes a team option in the final year and is otherwise fully guaranteed, Siegel tweets. The shooting guard played last season on a two-way contract, splitting his time between the Sixers and their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
  • Knicks rookie forward Ignas Brazdeikis received a three-year minimum deal, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Brazdeikis will make approximately $900K as a rookie, $1.5MM in his second year and $1.8MM in his third season (team option).
  • The Celtics have been exploring a variety of contract terms with second-round pick Carsen Edwards, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. The negotiations with the Purdue guard include guaranteed amounts.

Suns Waive Kyle Korver

After being traded from the Jazz to the Grizzlies to the Suns, Kyle Korver has now been placed on waivers by Phoenix, according to NBA.com’s log of official transactions.

The move was expected, since only $3.44MM of Korver’s $7.5MM salary for 2019/20 was guaranteed. The Suns needed to open up extra cap room to sign Ricky Rubio to his three-year, $51MM contract, and releasing Korver helps pave the way.

Korver is now on track to clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday evening. When he first reported that Korver would be cut, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski identified the Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers as the probable frontrunners to sign the veteran sharpshooter once he reaches the open market.

Korver averaged 8.6 PPG on .416/.397/.822 shooting in 70 games (19.1 MPG) last season for the Cavaliers and Jazz. A June report indicated that the 38-year-old – who is a career 42.9% three-point shooter – is expected to play for at least one more year.

Sixers Sign Marial Shayok To Two-Way Contract

The Sixers have officially signed second-round pick Marial Shayok to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

In a statement within the team’s press release, 76ers general manager Elton Brand calls Shayok, a former Iowa State wing, a “natural-born scorer who is committed to being a tough defender.”

The 54th overall pick in the draft, Shayok spent his final college season at Iowa State, where he got a chance to take on a starring role after three years at Virginia. In his senior year, the 6’6″ Canadian averaged 18.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 2.0 APG, with a shooting line of .496/.386/.878, earning First Team All-Big 12 honors.

Philadelphia signed Norvel Pelle to a two-way contract on Tuesday, so Pelle and Shayok appear poised to open the 2019/20 season as the club’s two-way players. They figure to split time between the NBA club and the Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers’ G League affiliate.

Free Agency Notes: Cap Holds, Williams, Magic, Wizards

Nearly half the teams in the NBA renounced their rights to multiple free agents this week as they prepared to make new roster moves official, per RealGM’s transactions log. In some cases, like when the Clippers renounced the rights to Garrett Temple and Wilson Chandler, those free agents already new homes lined up, and removing their cap holds was simply a formality to create cap room for incoming additions.

In other cases, the housekeeping moves were a bit more noteworthy. The Pacers, for instance, renounced Darren Collison‘s Bird rights, so if the 31-year-old – who announced his retirement before the start of free agency – ever attempts an NBA comeback, Indiana will no longer have a leg up to re-acquire him.

Besides those two teams, the Hawks, Bucks, Nets, Jazz, Sixers, Clippers, Pelicans, Lakers, Kings, Celtics, Wizards, and Bulls also renounced various free agents, according to RealGM’s log.

Here are a few more notes related to free agency:

  • The Lakers have withdrawn their qualifying offer to two-way player Johnathan Williams and renounced his rights, according to RealGM. That doesn’t preclude the Lakers from bringing back Williams on a new two-way deal, but he’ll be able to sign outright with a new team if he so chooses.
  • At least nine teams are now confirmed to attend the Amar’e Stoudemire/Monta Ellis workout taking place in Las Vegas on Monday, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. We previously relayed word of Stoudemire’s and Ellis’ attempts to make NBA comebacks.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides salary cap updates on a pair of Southeast teams, tweeting that the Magic and Wizards are both safely out of luxury tax territory for now. According to Marks (Twitter links), Orlando has $3.5MM in breathing room under the tax line, counting Khem Birch‘s $1.8MM cap hold, while Washington is about $4MM below that threshold after cutting Jonathon Simmons.

Grizzlies, Suns Swap Kyle Korver, Josh Jackson In Multi-Player Trade

JULY 7: The trade is official, the Suns announced in a press release.

JULY 3: The Grizzlies and Suns have agreed to a trade that will send newly-acquired Memphis sharpshooter Kyle Korver to Phoenix along with Jevon Carter, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, the Grizzlies will receive Josh Jackson, De’Anthony Melton, a 2020 second-round pick, and a conditional 2021 second-round pick in the deal.

That 2021 Suns second-rounder will only change hands if it falls between 31-35, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian. Brooklyn will receive it if it lands between 36-60.

Because Korver is part of the Mike Conley trade with Utah that hasn’t yet been completed, this deal can’t be made official until after the one is finalized. Once both deals are done, the Grizzlies will pick up a former No. 4 overall pick (Jackson), as well as a second-rounder from last year’s draft (Melton), along with at least one future second-round pick.

In two NBA seasons, Jackson has been inconsistent for the Suns, averaging 12.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG but shooting just .415/.294/.650 in 156 total contests (25.3 MPG). He has also faced questions about his maturity and off-court behavior.

However, he’s still just 22 years old, so the Grizzlies will get the opportunity to see if they can continue to develop him and help him reach his ceiling. They’ll also have to decide by the end of October whether to pick up $8.9MM option for 2020/21 — at this point, I’d be surprised if they do.

Melton, the 46th overall pick in 2018’s draft, is another intriguing roll of the dice for Memphis, one the team has long had its eye on, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The former USC Trojan is considered a strong defender, and started 31 games for the Suns in his rookie season, averaging 5.0 PPG, 3.2 APG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.4 SPG in 50 total contests.

As for the Suns’ side, the move looks like it’s primarily designed to clear the cap room necessary to complete their other reported moves this week, including Ricky Rubio‘s three-year, $51MM deal. They’ll also be able to retain Kelly Oubre‘s cap hold, and will presumably see if Carter can earn some minutes in their backcourt rotation.

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Korver is expected to be bought out by Phoenix before his $7.5MM salary for 2019/20 becomes fully guaranteed. Korver’s deal is only partially guaranteed for $3.44MM as long as he doesn’t remain under contract through July 7.

If and when Korver clears waivers, the Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers will be the frontrunners to sign him, says Wojnarowski.

As cap expert Albert Nahmad observes (via Twitter), the Grizzlies will be able to use trade exceptions to absorb Jackson’s and Melton’s contracts, generating two new trade exceptions worth $3.44MM (Korver’s partial guarantee) and $1.42MM (Carter’s salary).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sixers Trade Bruno Fernando To Hawks For Bone, Future Picks

JULY 7: The trade has been officially completed, according to a press release issued by the Hawks. Bone will be flipped to the Pistons by the Sixers.

JUNE 20: The Sixers selected Maryland big man Bruno Fernando with the No. 34 overall selection in this year’s draft, but he will not play in Philadelphia, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, who tweets that the 76ers have traded Fernando to the Hawks for two future second-rounders and the No. 57 pick.

Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice reports that in addition to the No. 57 pick, Philadelphia will get Atlanta’s 2020 second-round pick (56-60 protected) and the most favorable of Atlanta’s, Charlotte’s, and Brooklyn’s 2023 second-round picks.

The Hawks were said to have interest in Fernando a little less than a month ago today, so it comes as no surprise that the team traded up into the top of the second round to draft the Maryland product.

Fernando averaged a double-double (13.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG) to go along with 1.9 BPG and a .607 FG% in 34 games for the Terrapins in 2018/19.

Lakers Officially Acquire Anthony Davis In Three-Team Trade

The Lakers, Pelicans, and Wizards have officially completed the three-team trade that makes Anthony Davis a Laker. All three teams issued press releases tonight to announce the deal. The structure of the trade is as follows:

  • Lakers acquire Anthony Davis.
  • Pelicans acquire Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, the draft rights to De’Andre Hunter (No. 4 pick), the Lakers’ 2021 first-round pick (9-30 protected; unprotected in 2022), the Lakers’ 2024 first-round pick (unprotected), the right to swap 2023 first-round picks with the Lakers, and cash ($1.1MM; from Wizards).
    • Note: The Pelicans will also have the option to defer the 2024 first-round pick to 2025.
  • Wizards acquire Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, and the Lakers’ 2022 second-round pick.

The long-awaited deal was held up slightly today as the Lakers officially finalized a series of signings using their cap room. In order to maximize its cap space, the club had to sign free agents first before acquiring Davis. Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Quinn Cook, and JaVale McGee all signed their contracts with the Lakers since the July moratorium ended this afternoon.

The Pelicans, meanwhile, will now flip the rights to Hunter to the Hawks in a separate deal, putting the No. 4 pick on track to join his new team for Summer League action. Once the deal is done, Atlanta will also be able to complete its trade with the Sixers involving Bruno Fernando and Jordan Bone, then Philadelphia will be able to flip Bone to the Pistons.

For more details on one of the summer’s biggest trades, be sure to check out our previous stories on the Lakers/Pelicans aspect of the deal, as well as the Lakers/Wizards part of the swap.