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Sixers Sign Norvel Pelle

August 3rd, 2018 at 2:49pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Joel Embiid Not Concerned About Missing Out On James,, Leonard

August 2nd, 2018 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

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.

J.J. Redick Nearly Signed With Pacers

July 31st, 2018 at 10:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

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.

Stein’s Latest: Sixers, Warriors, Rockets, Nets

July 31st, 2018 at 6:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.

Lessort Signs Two-Year Deal In Europe

July 30th, 2018 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.

Western Notes: James, Batum, Katsikaris, Jones

July 30th, 2018 at 7:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.

Jerry Colangelo’s Time With Sixers Coming To End

July 30th, 2018 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Contract Details: Bolden, Carter, Harrell, Smart

July 29th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers forward Jonah Bolden has received the largest contract of any rookie second-round pick this summer, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The 36th player taken in the 2017 draft, Bolden spent a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before coming to the NBA. Philadelphia gave him a four-year, $7MM deal with a starting salary of $1.69MM, although the third and fourth seasons are non-guaranteed.

The Nets signed Rodions Kurucs to a similar arrangement, Pincus adds (Twitter link). The 40th pick in this year’s draft, Kurucs will make $1.62MM in his first year and has incentives that could bring the value of his four-year contract up to $6.96MM. The first three seasons are fully guaranteed.

Pincus passes on a few more details about deals signed this summer:

Although Jevon Carter was taken 32nd overall, he signed for just the minimum salary over two seasons, less than others in his draft range (Twitter link). However, he received a full guarantee from the Grizzlies on both years. Jalen Brunson, taken at No. 33 by the Mavericks, makes more per season but is locked into a four-year deal (Twitter link). He will receive $1.23MM in his rookie year, with minimum salaries for the next three seasons. The first three years are fully guaranteed. Elie Okobo, the 31st pick, signed a four-year agreement with the Suns that will pay him $1.24MM in his first year, with three seasons at the minimum to follow. Only his first two years are guaranteed, and Phoenix has a team option on the final season (Twitter link).
Among the two-way contracts handed out this summer, only four players signed multi-year deals. Kostas Antetokounmpo of the Mavericks, Billy Preston of the Cavaliers, Yuta Watanabe of the Grizzlies and Thomas Welsh of the Nuggets all have two-year agreements (Twitter link).
The Clippers will pay Montrezl Harrell $6MM in each season of his two-year, $12MM deal (Twitter link).
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has a base salary of $11.16MM in the first year of his new deal, but $500K of likely incentives place the cap hit at $11.66MM. The incentives remain in effect for each season of his four-year contract.

Sixers Re-Sign Demetrius Jackson To Two-Way Deal

July 27th, 2018 at 5:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers have re-signed guard Demetrius Jackson to a two-way contract, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.

Philadelphia originally signed the former Notre Dame point guard to a two-way deal in January. He saw action in just three games with the Sixers, averaging 2.7 PPG in 5.7 MPG. He also made 10 starts with their G League affiliate, the Deleware 87ers, averaging 13.0 PPG and 4.6 APG in 25.5 MPG.

Jackson was selected by Boston in the second round of the 2016 draft. He was waived by Boston last summer and signed a two-way deal with the Rockets. Houston terminated Jackson’s contract and then signed him to a 10-day deal but decided not to offer him another contract.

The 6’1” Jackson appeared in 12 games with the Rockets, playing an average of 5.3 MPG. He played five games for Boston as a rookie.

The Sixers filled their other two-way slot earlier this week by signing rookie SMU guard Shake Milton.

Sixers Sign Shake Milton To Two-Way Deal

July 26th, 2018 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

1:19pm: The Sixers have sent out a press release confirming their two-way contract with Milton.

12:56pm: The Sixers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Shake Milton, reports Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link). According to Fischer, Milton will sign a two-year, two-way contract with Philadelphia.

Milton, 21, played his college ball at SMU and declared for the draft after a productive junior year in which he averaged 18.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 4.4 APG. A 6’6″ guard, Milton was also an excellent three-point shooter throughout his college career, knocking down 42.7% of his shots from beyond the arc over his three years at SMU.

The 76ers currently project to have a full 15-man roster for the 2018/19 season, with 14 players on guaranteed contracts and T.J. McConnell on a non-guaranteed deal. As such, it makes sense for the club to use one of its two-way slots on Milton — especially since players drafted in the 50s have frequently received two-way contracts during the last two summers.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Milton’s draft rights were acquired by the 76ers in a draft-night trade that saw Philadelphia receive the No. 54 selection from Dallas in exchange for the 56th and 60th overall picks.

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