However, Marc Stein of The New York Times is already reporting matchups for three of the Christmas Day games. The Celtics will play the Sixers, the Knicks will host the Bucks, and the new-look Lakers will travel to Oakland to take on the Warriors. Chris Haynes of ESPN is also reporting that the Jazz will host the Trail Blazers.
Sixers rookie guard Zhaire Smith suffered a left foot injury during a development camp in Las Vegas on Monday, the team announced this morning in a press release. According to the club, the 16th overall pick is headed back to Philadelphia for further evaluations on his injured foot.
The Sixers’ announcement doesn’t offer up a preliminary diagnosis and is short on specifics, so the severity of Smith’s foot injury isn’t clear. Training camps will begin in less than two months, but if Smith’s recovery is a short-term one, he could still be ready to go by the time the preseason begins.
- The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has set its initial win totals for NBA teams during the 2018/19 regular season. The Atlantic Division looks like this: Celtics – 57.5; Raptors/Sixers – 54.5; Nets – 32.5; Knicks – 29.5.
- Despite still not have a general manager, the Sixers have made some changes in their scouting department, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers recently hired J. R. Holden as an international scout and are making a push to hire a female scout in the near future.
The Sixers have made an addition to their offseason roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed free agent center Norvel Pelle to a contract. Terms of the deal aren’t known, but it figures to be a camp deal that features little to no guaranteed money.
Pelle, who went undrafted in 2014, has played for teams in Taiwan, Lebanon, and Italy since beginning his professional career. He also spent time with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League team, allowing the Sixers to get a first-hand look at him.
The 76ers got a closer look at Pelle again last month when he appeared in five Las Vegas Summer League games for the club. Although he averaged just 13.8 MPG, the 25-year-old big man was effective, posting 7.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.2 BPG.
Philadelphia has made a number of signings this offseason, bringing back NBA free agents J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson, locking up draftees Zhaire Smith, Landry Shamet, and Jonah Bolden, and signing Shake Milton and Demetrius Jackson to two-way deals. However, today’s agreement with Pelle looks like the first training camp deal of the club’s offseason.
Sixers center Joel Embiid isn’t concerned that the team missed out on signing LeBron James and trading for Kawhi Leonard, according to Ian Begley of ESPN. Even though Philadelphia didn’t add much star power this summer, Embiid believes a deal that brought in Wilson Chandler and the expected improvement of Markelle Fultz will be enough.
Sixers center Joel Embiid isn’t concerned that the team missed out on signing LeBron James and trading for Kawhi Leonard, according to Ian Begley of ESPN. Even though Philadelphia didn’t add much star power this summer, Embiid believes a deal that brought in Wilson Chandler and the expected improvement of Markelle Fultz will be enough.
The Sixers were able to re-sign starting guard J.J. Redick and will bring back most of the team that won 52 games last year.
The Sixers brought back J.J. Redick on a one-year, $12.5MM deal this offseason, though they almost lost him to an Eastern Conference rival.
“I almost signed with [the Pacers]. I was an hour away, two hours away. I was very close. I had a 5 p.m. deadline. Basically, it was 12:30, 1 o’clock in the afternoon when Philly changed the offer,” Redick said on his podcast (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports).
Indiana wasn’t able to land Redick. The team then signed another sharpshooter in Tyreke Evans, whose deal runs for one year and $12MM.
Redick scored 17.1 points per game in his first season with the Sixers, knocking down 42.0% of his shots from behind the arc. He saw 30.2 minutes per contest in the regular season, but the Sixers upped his total to 34.2 during their 10 playoff games.
The Sixers’ much-anticipated offseason fell far short of expectations, Marc Stein of the New York Times opines in his latest newsletter (Sign-up link).
Philadelphia didn’t come close to signing either LeBron James or Paul George in the free agent market and couldn’t swing a deal with the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard, Stein continues. With Leonard landing in Toronto, the Sixers no longer have a clear path to the conference finals. They’re also still looking for a GM and the most consequential moves they made were re-signing J.J. Redick and dealing for Wilson Chandler, Stein adds.
We have more of Stein’s insights:
- The Warriors were the biggest winners in the offseason. They not only stunned the NBA world by signing DeMarcus Cousins but they also made some underrated moves, such as locking up coach Steve Kerr to a long-term contract and signing serviceable forward Jonas Jerebko.
- The Rockets’ offseason has been unfairly criticized. Re-signing Clint Capela to a team-friendly contract was a major coup and they should extract more production out of Carmelo Anthony than any other team in the league could.
- The Nets will be active on the free agent market next summer but they won’t spend money simply because they’ll have a lot of cap space. Kyrie Irving will be a target if he declines his player option and becomes a free agent.
Sixers’ draft-and-stash prospect Mathias Lessort has signed a two-year deal with Spain’s Unicaja Malaga, according to Eurohoops.net. The 6’9” Lessort, 22, played in Serbia last season for Red Star Belgrade and averaged 8.5 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 30 games. Lessort was the 50th overall pick in 2017.
LeBron James seriously considered joining the Sixers and Rockets before signing with the Lakers. In an extensive interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that was relayed by Dave McMenamin, James addressed a variety of topics, including which teams he considered during free agency.
“I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid or lining up aside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul],” he told Nichols.
The Sixers had the salary-cap space to sign James but the Rockets would have likely required a sign-and-trade with the Cavaliers to acquire his services. James also insisted he doesn’t see next season as a rebuilding year for the Lakers.
“We have an opportunity to do something that a lot of people don’t think we can do, and we love the notion of it’s another rebuilding year and we don’t have enough. So that will motivate the guys that we have anyways.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- The Rockets are actively seeking a defensive-minded player on the trade market and are willing to take on a long-term contract, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN in comments relayed by digital journalist Ben DuBose. Houston would presumably move forward Ryan Anderson, who has two years and $41.7MM left on his deal. The Hornets’ Nicolas Batum would be a logical target, as Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype notes. Batum has three years and $76.7MM remaining on his contract, which includes a player option in the final year.
- The Jazz have hired Fotis Katsikaris as an assistant to Quin Snyder, the team announced in a press release. Katsikaris becomes the first-ever native Greek NBA assistant coach. He was a head coach in Spain last season and served as head coach of the Greek national team from 2014-16.
- The Warriors are unlikely to pick up center Damian Jones‘ fourth-year option, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Golden State must make a decision on the $2.3MM option prior to the start of the season. If it’s declined, Jones will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo resigned from his post last month after burner Twitter accounts that revealed private information about the team were uncovered and linked to Colangelo and his wife. Now, Bryan’s father Jerry Colangelo, a special advisor for the 76ers, is poised to leave the organization as well.
As Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post details, Colangelo refers to his tenure in Philadelphia as being over, later clarifying that it will technically conclude “at the end of the year.” A league source confirmed to Bontemps that Colangelo remains under contract through the end of the calendar year, and while the Sixers will be honoring that contract, it won’t be renewed.
Given the events that transpired in Philadelphia leading up to his son’s departure from the Sixers, the elder Colangelo was put in an uncomfortable position. As he tells Bontemps, Colangelo prefers not to publicly address Bryan’s situation.
“I haven’t made any public comments about what transpired,” Colangelo said. “I don’t think it would be appropriate. It’s a very difficult summer for him, and his family.”
While his time with the Sixers is set to come to an end, Colangelo remains involved with USA Basketball, and he and head coach Gregg Popovich will be responsible for picking which players represent Team USA at the next major international tournaments. Colangelo, who will turn 79 this fall, intends to continue his work with Team USA through 2020, but isn’t sure what his future holds beyond the next Olympics, he tells Bontemps.