Philadelphia 76ers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Acquire No. 57 Pick Jordan Bone

June 20th, 2019 at 11:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 7: The Pistons’ deal with the Sixers for Bone’s draft rights is now official, according to the 76ers’ Twitter account.

JUNE 20: The Pistons have agreed to acquire the No. 57 pick from the Sixers and will select Tennessee guard Jordan Bone, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The Sixers will receive $2MM and a 2024 second-rounder that the Heat owed the Pistons in return for Bone, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.

Bone averaged 13.5 PPG and 5.8 APG in his final college year with the Vols.

The 6’3” Bone gives the Pistons more depth at the point guard position. Ish Smith, who backed up Reggie Jackson in recent years, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Sixers Acquire No. 20 From Celtics For Nos. 24, 33

June 20th, 2019 at 8:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 21: The trade is now official, per an NBA press release.

JUNE 20: The Celtics and Sixers have agreed on a draft-night trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Philadelphia is acquiring the No. 20 pick and using it to draft Washington forward Matisse Thybulle.

In exchange for the pick, Boston will acquire the 24th and 33rd overall selections from the 76ers.

The Sixers had made a promise to Thybulle with the No. 24 pick, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets. They apparently had concerns another team also had their eyes on Thybulle, whom O’Connor notes is a multi-positional defender who can blend his offensive game with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Thybulle, a senior 6’5” guard, averaged a modest 9.1 PPG in his final college season. However, his defensive stats were impressive, as he averaged 3.5 SPG and 2.3 BPG.

He averaged 11.2 PPG as a junior.

The trade at least temporarily gave the Celtics three first-round selections.

Draft-Night Notes: Bazley, Thunder, Bulls, Suns

June 20th, 2019 at 8:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Some teams holding mid-first-round picks have expressed interest in forward Darius Bazley and he could go earlier than projected, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. A McDonald’s All-American, Bazley didn’t go to college and instead spent the year preparing for the draft.

We have more draft nuggets:

The Thunder are engaged in trade talk with teams to move back in first round from the No. 21 pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
The Bulls didn’t shop shooting guard Zach LaVine when they explored ways to move up in the lottery, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Chicago wound up holding onto the No. 7 pick and selecting North Carolina point guard Coby White. LaVine has three years and $58.5MM remaining on his contract.
The Suns’ selection of North Carolina power forward Cameron Johnson at No. 11 after trading down from the No. 6 pick earlier in the day was the surprise of the lottery. According to SInow’s Jake Fischer, it was an even bigger surprise due to injury concerns. Several teams red-flagged Johnson out of the first round due to his history of ailments on both hips (Twitter link).
The Sixers are trying to move up from the No. 24 pick, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. They’re hoping to snag either UNC small forward Nassir Little or USC shooting guard Kevin Porter Jr. and could wind up with one of them even if they don’t make a deal, Pompey adds.

Western Notes: Rockets, No. 4, Davis, Holiday

June 20th, 2019 at 2:49pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Houston intends to aggressively pursue Jimmy Butler in free agency and Kelly Iko of The Athletic hears that the Rockets will be just as determined to land Butler now as they were in prior to Minnesota dealing him to the Sixers. GM Daryl Morey reportedly offered four first-round picks in exchange for Butler during the season.

It’s no secret that the Rockets are looking to shake up their roster this offseason. They continue to discuss trades involving Clint Capela, and Iko hears that they’ve discussed sending him to the Pelicans for the No. 4 overall pick. In that scenario, Houston would look to insert that pick into a package in order to land another player.

Here’s more from Houston and rest of the Western Conference:

The Rockets had interested in trading for Anthony Davis and reached out to the Pelicans prior to New Orleans making the deal with the Lakers. Houston was aware that it wasn’t high on Davis’ preferences and that a trade was not likely to happen.
The Lakers could have asked Davis if he’d waive his trade bonus of roughly $4.1MM in order to make salary-matching easier, but they never broached it during negotiations, league sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Los Angeles is still attempting to maximize its cap room for an additional star after agreeing to the Davis deal.
Several NBA executives are skeptical that the Lakers can build a title-winning team around Davis and LeBron James after the haul they just gave up, Beck relays in the same piece. “[The] Lakers overpaid by a significant margin, given the conditions,” one executive said, adding, “Never let your GM be in a spot where he needs to make a trade to save his job.”
The Suns are not interested in Aaron Holiday, Phoenix-based radio host John Gambadoro tweets. J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star identified the Suns as one of a handful of teams that has interest in acquiring the Pacers point guard, mentioning the Timberwolves, Bulls, and Hawks as well.

Nets Debating Whether To Sign Irving Without Durant

June 19th, 2019 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

Brooklyn is believed to be Kyrie Irving‘s top choice in free agency, but Nets officials aren’t unanimous in wanting him if they don’t sign Kevin Durant as well, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

Adding Irving would mean giving up on restricted free agent D’Angelo Russell, who is a younger and less expensive option and who blossomed into a star during his two years in Brooklyn.

Irving is eligible for a four-year, $141MM contract with a starting salary of $32MM, while a max deal for Russell would pay him $117MM over four years, starting at $27MM. Russell also strongly wants to stay in Brooklyn, telling Lewis he hopes to be a “Net for life.”

“If we’re being completely honest, I enjoyed the team that we had this whole season,” Russell said. “I’m not going to say I didn’t enjoy our team and the pieces we had around.”

Lewis notes that some teams expected to pursue Irving have backed away because of the turmoil that surrounded him in Boston.

With Russell’s cap hold in place, the Nets have about $46MM in cap space, but that number grows to nearly $68MM if he is renounced, enough for two max offers. Lewis adds that if they don’t land Irving and Durant, then Sixers forward Tobias Harris and Celtics big man Al Horford could be considered for those deals.

Latest On The Mike Conley Trade

June 19th, 2019 at 6:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Jazz had been targeting Mike Conley for months before pulling off today’s trade with Memphis, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. Utah made a strong push to get Conley before the February deadline, offering Ricky Rubio, two first-round picks and other expiring contracts that would have provided the Grizzlies with cap relief this summer.

Jones cites “frustration” among Jazz management, which believed Conley would be a difference maker in the postseason, when the offer wasn’t accepted. Utah finished with the fifth seed and a first-round playoff ouster.

“What we found out this year,” Jazz executive Dennis Lindsey said after the season ended, “is that while we were a good team, we weren’t a great team.”

The organization sees Conley as a path to becoming great, viewing him as one of the best pick-rand-roll guards in the league and a strong leader in the locker room. The Jazz were willing to pay a heavy price in the deal, giving up Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver and Grayson Allen, plus this year’s first-round pick and a future conditional first-rounder. Sources tell Jones the Grizzlies insisted on Allen because they wanted “a young player with upside” and were impressed by how he improved during the season.

There’s more fallout from today’s trade:

The Pistons and Pacers were both contenders for Conley, but were unwilling to surrender two first-round picks, reports Zach Lowe of ESPN. Sources tell Lowe that even if the Pistons had agreed to meet that price, they might have insisted that Memphis take back Reggie Jackson and his $18MM contract. The Pacers, meanwhile, refused to give up the picks plus first-year guard Aaron Holiday.
The Jazz needed to send enough salary to Memphis to enable them to guarantee Derrick Favors‘ $16.9MM contract for next season without going over the salary cap, Lowe adds. He states that the decision to include Crowder in the deal instead of Dante Exum shows a lot of faith in the 23-year-old guard.
Lowe also notes that the trade will have a ripple effect on free agency. Utah no longer has the cap space for a max-level offer, which means one less suitor for the Sixers’ Tobias Harris. Point guards who had been hoping for an offer from Utah will also be disappointed. In addition, the trade increases the likelihood that the pick the Grizzlies owe the Celtics won’t convey until 2021, when it will be unprotected. The selection has top-six protection next year.
Donovan Mitchell is thrilled to have Conley as his new backcourt partner, tweets Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. “He’s a great player,” Mitchell said. “He’s very underrated in my opinion. He does a lot of getting into the lane and being able to find guys and also I can learn a lot from him so as far as being a point guard.”

Rockets Expected To Pursue Jimmy Butler

June 19th, 2019 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets came up short in their pursuit of Jimmy Butler during the 2018/19 season when the standout forward was on the trade block, despite reportedly offering a package that featured four first-round picks. With Butler on track to reach free agency this summer, the Rockets are expected to once again aggressively go after the 29-year-old, according to Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter links), who reports that Butler’s name will be atop Houston’s offseason wish list.

As Smith explains, the Rockets consider Butler an ideal fit on both ends of the court, viewing him as a piece that could push the team over the hump in the Western Conference. Per Smith, Houston’s ideal scenario would be to add Butler to its James Harden/Chris Paul pairing, despite rumors of significant discord between the two guards.

Smith’s report lines up with recent comments made by general manager Daryl Morey, who talked about the possibility of adding a third star to the Rockets’ roster this offseason.

Although the Rockets would love to add Butler and the Houston native may have interest in joining his hometown team, the club’s salary cap situation will make it difficult — especially since Butler has talked about expecting to sign a maximum-salary contract, which would start at about $32.7MM.

There’s no realistic way for the Rockets to create the cap room necessary to sign Butler to anything close to the max, so that’s likely not an option. That leaves two other potential pathways — a sign-and-trade or an opt-in-and-trade.

A sign-and-trade would require the Sixers to be on board, which means the Rockets would have to send some appealing assets Philadelphia’s way, including perhaps shooting guard Eric Gordon. Even then, salary-matching would be difficult and might require a third team to trade for Clint Capela or another Rocket. Houston would also be hard-capped in that scenario, significantly limiting the club’s flexibility.

[RELATED: Why NBA Sign-And-Trades Are Rare]

If Butler were to exercise his $19.84MM player option for 2019/20 instead of opting out as planned, it’d create a much cleaner path to a deal. The two teams could then negotiate a straight trade, like the Rockets and Clippers did two years ago when Paul wanted to play in Houston, though as with a sign-and-trade, the Sixers would have to sign off.

Additionally, Butler would presumably be reluctant to give up a longer-term, maximum-salary deal this summer unless he has assurances that such a deal would be waiting for him from the Rockets in 2020. That’s essentially what happened with Paul in 2017 — his payday was delayed until 2018, but there was never any doubt Houston would give it to him.

Of course, owner Tilman Fertitta has reportedly complained since day one about the team’s long-term investment in CP3, so it’s not clear if the club would be willing to make a similar wink-and-nod commitment to Butler.

The idea of the Rockets acquiring Butler still looks like a long shot at this point, but Morey has creatively completed deals in the past, and will certainly explore every avenue he can to do so again this time around.

Five Key Offseason Questions: Philadelphia 76ers

June 18th, 2019 at 11:06pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers took two major in-season gambles during the 2018/19 campaign, plucking Jimmy Butler from Minnesota and putting together a package of assets to acquire Tobias Harris from the Clippers.

The team’s five starters played in just 10 regular season games together due to various injuries and rest management. Those five saw their playoff run cut short in the second round after playing only 11 postseason games together as a group. The organization longs for an opportunity to get a larger sample size on its collection of talent.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. How many starters will the Sixers bring back?

Philadelphia will face immense competition for Butler, Harris, and J.J. Redick on the free agent market.

Multiple teams are expected to offer Harris a max deal, with the Nets standing out as a noteworthy threat. The interest between Harris and Brooklyn is reportedly mutual. The Grizzlies, Jazz, Mavericks, Kings, and Pacers have all been linked to Harris as well.

Butler is confident he’ll also receive a full max and the Lakers will be among the teams looking to swoop in and steal the four-time All-Star. GM Elton Brand plans on doing everything he can to bring Butler back.

Redick’s underwhelming playoffs aside, his shooting will be coveted by many teams in the league. He made just over $12MM last year, though it’s unclear what the price range for him will be going forward as he prepares to enter his age-35 season.

The Sixers will be among the offseason winners if they can bring back all five starters and supplement them with an additional role player or two. Of the three pending free agents, I’d speculate Butler is the most likely to leave.

Atlantic Notes: Morris, Kawhi, Knicks, Sixers

June 18th, 2019 at 4:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Marcus Morris is not ruling out coming back to Boston next year, Yahoo Sports contributor Keith Smith hears (Twitter link). The combo forward enjoyed his time on the Celtics and believes he’ll have a major role on the team if he returns.

While a re-signing remains a possibility, Morris intends to test the free agent market to see what’s available for him. The Philadelphia native made slightly under $5.4MM during the 2018/19 season.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Fred VanVleet said there is “nothing more” that the Raptors can do to re-sign Kawhi Leonard, ESPN relays. “The best way to recruit somebody is to just be yourself over the course of the year, and I would assume that he knows what is here and what makes this place special,” VanVleet said. “If it’s enough then it’s enough. If it’s not then it’s not.”
The Knicks are expected to add veteran coach Mike Miller to David Fizdale‘s coaching staff, Ian Begley of SNY.tv reports. Miller most recently served as the head coach of the club’s G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.
Darius Bazley was scheduled to work out for the Sixers today, but Villanova’s Joe Cremo will participate in drills instead, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The Sixers own the No. 24 overall pick in addition for four second-rounders.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Draft, Anunoby

June 17th, 2019 at 5:33pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers want to select someone in the mold of Landry Shamet with the No. 24 overall pick.

“[Shamet has] always been an overcomer and mature and very very self-aware,” senior director of scouting Vince Rozman said (via Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “…I think those are the guys that tend to make it in that range, because they know their role and they know what’s going to be asked of them.”

Pompey suggests that Cameron Johnson fits the profile and speculates that the UNC product may slip in the draft because of his age. Johnson turned 23 in March.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers will work out six prospects on Tuesday, Pompey tweets. Darius Bazley (Princeton HS), Armoni Brooks (Houston), Charlie Brown Jr. (St. Joseph’s), Kyle Guy (Virginia), James Palmer Jr. (Nebraska), and Yovel Zoosman (Israel) will participate in drills with the club.
The Nets recently worked out Bazley, Eric Paschall (Villanova), and Grant Williams (Tennessee), according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
OG Anunoby will not play in summer league, according to Raptors coach Nick Nurse (h/t Eric Koreen of The Athletic). “I think he’s past that,” Nurse said.

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