Philadelphia 76ers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Notes: Nurse, McDaniels, Maxey, Embiid, Melton

October 28th, 2023 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Making his return to Toronto tonight, Sixers coach Nick Nurse explained why he decided to leave after five years with the Raptors, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Nurse’s time with the organization included a championship in his first season, a Coach of the Year award and a 227-163 record. However, he hadn’t won a playoff series since 2020 and the team’s progress was stagnating.

“It felt like it was time from both sides,” Nurse told reporters before Saturday’s game. “It still feels that way to me, just looking around. I look at them play and they look like they’re playing great and I’m really enjoying coaching this team. So everybody is where they’re supposed to be.”

There were complaints in Toronto that Nurse was overplaying his starters and neglecting player development while pursuing every possible win, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Players were also unhappy with the level of communication, Grange adds, with some saying they learned about changes to their roles through the media instead of directly from Nurse.

Nurse was complimentary toward his former team at tonight’s press gathering, saying, “They look good to me. It’s a new coach, a new system and they’re going to need some growth time. But I think in general they seem like they’re playing really hard, they’re playing really well together, they seem really focused and they’re doing a lot of good things.”

There’s more on the Sixers:

Jalen McDaniels got a much better offer when he decided to leave the Sixers and sign with the Raptors this summer, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). McDaniels landed a two-year, $9.2MM contract in Toronto, while Philadelphia was only offering a minimum-salary deal. “Yeah, I couldn’t do that, you know?” McDaniels said.
Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid have shown off a much crisper two-man game early in the season, observes Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports. With James Harden still out of action, the Maxey-Embiid connection has become the focus of Philadelphia’s offense, and Neubeck states that Maxey has become a noticeably better passer over the summer. Neubeck also wonders how much the Sixers’ front office really wants Harden to return, since it would bring a ball-dominant guard into an equation that’s working well without him.
P.J. Tucker and De’Anthony Melton appear “lost in the shuffle” in Nurse’s offense, Neubeck adds. While Tucker was expected to decline without Harden creating shots for him, Neubeck sees Melton’s slow start as a greater concern. He believes Melton has been miscast as a lead guard when Maxey is on the bench and suggests he would be more comfortable off the ball if the Sixers can sign a backup point guard.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Maxey, Oubre, Mann

October 27th, 2023 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

After earning Most Valuable Player honors in 2022/23, what sort of individual goals does Joel Embiid have for the ’23/24 season? According to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required), the Sixers‘ star center wants to make a case for Defensive Player of the Year and would like to become more of a play-maker in Nick Nurse‘s offense.

“Make those passes and making it easy for everyone else,” Embiid said. “I think, this whole year, that’s going to be my big focus — to just try to get as many assists and trying to get my teammates involved as much as possible. … I never liked just being an [isolation] player. I don’t think that’s the right way to play, and I don’t feel that’s the right way to win. I like this system.”

Embiid’s season got off to a slow start on Thursday in Milwaukee, recording more turnovers (seven) than assists (six) in a game the Sixers lost by a single point, prompting Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer to suggest that the big man looked like the player most affected by James Harden‘s absence.

However, there were some encouraging signs in the road loss, Pompey notes. Tyrese Maxey looked excellent as Philadelphia’s new starting point guard in Harden’s stead, racking up 31 points and eight assists, while minimum-salary free agent addition Kelly Oubre scored 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting (5-of-6 three-pointers).

Here’s more on the 76ers:

Following up on The Philadelphia Inquirer’s recent report about the Knicks‘ interest in Embiid, Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears from sources that the MVP’s desire to remain in Philadelphia hasn’t changed. As for the reported package that New York is willing to part with for Embiid, one source tells Begley that the Sixers and people close to Embiid “didn’t take it seriously.”
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Sixers officials learned that the Clippers made Terance Mann available during their efforts to acquire Jrue Holiday from the Trail Blazers, which is one key reason why Philadelphia has insisted on having Mann be part of any package for Harden.
In another article for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mizell takes a look at the work Maxey put in ahead of the season to prepare himself to take over the 76ers’ lead guard role, with Harden’s status up in the air. “My confidence is really high,” Maxey said. “I feel like, mentally, I prepared for whatever it is.”
Kyle Neubeck of All PHLY makes 10 Sixers-related predictions for the coming season, forecasting another 50-win year, a P.J. Tucker trade, and a 25+ point-per-game season for Maxey. Neubeck also predicts that Harden will end up playing no more than 10 more games for Philadelphia.

NBA Investigating James Harden’s Unavailability

October 26th, 2023 at 5:04pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The NBA is investigating the Sixers for guard James Harden‘s lack of availability for Thursday night’s game against the Bucks as it relates to the league’s new player participation policy, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Harden returned to the 76ers on Wednesday after being away from the team for 10 days due to what he and the team described as a personal matter.

Wojnarowski adds in a follow-up tweet that because Philadelphia is playing a national television game against Milwaukee, the new player policy rules state the Sixers have to provide a valid reason for why Harden isn’t playing since he’s healthy and a recent All-Star (within the last three years).

“We’re looking into the facts around James Harden’s availability tonight to determine whether an approved reason exists for his lack of participation,” said NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, a star player is excused for national TV games due to injury, personal reasons and rare or unusual circumstances. While Harden isn’t necessarily hurt, Marks points out that he probably isn’t in game shape since he hasn’t been with the team in 10 days and the team likely feels the same way.

In a separate but related story, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report details Harden’s return to Philadelphia on Wednesday, which he says came as a surprise to Sixers officials. According to Haynes, Harden was approached by team officials, who told him it would be “beneficial” for him to remain in Philadelphia to continue to get re-acclimated with the team rather than travel for Philadelphia’s two-game road stretch to begin the season.

Harden interpreted the officials’ words as a suggestion, not a demand, according to Haynes, who writes the star guard traveled to the airport following practice to board the team flight, but was stopped by a security official who told him he wasn’t permitted to join the team.

The 10-time All-Star departed the airport frustrated by the incident, leading him and his camp to perceive the incident as the Sixers trying to remove a potential distraction, while the club insists it’s prioritizing his ramp-up to play, Haynes writes.

Harden’s trade request hasn’t wavered, according to Haynes, though reports surfaced Wednesday that the Clippers were pausing their pursuits of the star guard. Philadelphia officials are holding out hope the situation will become manageable, but it’s important to keep an eye on how this situation affects both star center Joel Embiid and coach Nick Nurse, Haynes writes. For what it’s worth, Haynes notes rival teams are monitoring how much Embiid is willing to endure.

Even though teammates and coaches described Harden as handling the situation professionally before his absence, the saga is already creating a distraction on the outside looking in, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link). Despite that, Nurse is attempting to keep his team focused, Pompey writes. The head coach said he hasn’t seen his team distracted by the situation, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets.

“My concerns right now are really going to be focused on the game [Thursday] night,” Nurse said. “We put a lot into this, and we’re in a great space I think mentally and preparation-wise, all that stuff. That’s what I’ll continue to do.“

Woj: Clippers “Pausing” Pursuit Of James Harden

October 25th, 2023 at 5:59pm CST by Rory Maher

With their season tipping off on Wednesday night, the Clippers have decided to pause their pursuit of Sixers guard James Harden, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Countdown (Twitter video link).

“I’m told that with the start of the season now, at least for the foreseeable future, the Clippers are stepping back from these trade talks about James Harden — they are essentially pausing them,” Wojnarowski said.

“They have talked with Philadelphia for months about a trade,” Woj continued. “They’ve made their best offer for Harden, and they are now gonna start their season and see what this team looks like with a healthy Kawhi Leonard, a healthy Paul George.

“Now, the Clippers may revisit this at some point. But they know they’re the only bidder for James Harden. They’re the only team that’s made a serious offer. They don’t want to bid against themselves. … I think the Sixers have to wonder, ‘Have we already gotten the best offer we’re gonna get for James Harden?’ Especially as the games start to peel off the calendar. And if you’re the Clippers, why offer more when there are fewer and fewer games that James Harden can play for you?”

Harden, who asked the Sixers to trade him to L.A in June when he picked up his $35.64MM player option for the 2023/24 season, has expressed frustration with the slow pace of the negotiations multiple times in the months since then.

Back in August, he referred to Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey as a “liar” during a promotional event, later explaining to the NBA when the league investigated those comments that the club hadn’t delivered on its assurances that it would trade him “quickly.”

The former league MVP and reigning assists per game leader skipped media day and the first day of training camp before reporting to the 76ers this fall. After spending nearly two weeks away from the team, he departed last Sunday without an excused absence. However, Philadelphia later said Harden was away due to a personal matter, and there has been no indication that the club fined him for missing practices or its final preseason game.

As Wojnarowski reported this morning, Harden has returned to Philadelphia and is back with the Sixers. Various reports indicated that the 34-year-old will need to ramp up his activity before making his season debut, however, which is why he’ll be absent for Thursday’s season opener in Milwaukee.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported last week that the Clippers have offered two protected first-round picks for Harden, but the Sixers want Terance Mann, an unprotected first-rounder and a first-round pick swap, and the Clippers have no interest in trading Mann.

According to Wojnarowski, it seems Harden’s standoff with the Sixers will continue into the season.

Sixers Re-Sign Ricky Council To Two-Way Contract

October 25th, 2023 at 12:12pm CST by Luke Adams

12:12pm: Tubelis has been waived in order to open up a two-way slot for Council, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

11:53am: The Sixers have agreed to a new two-way contract with rookie shooting guard Ricky Council, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The signing is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

Council, who played two college seasons at Wichita State before transferring to Arkansas for his junior year in 2022/23, averaged 16.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 34.1 minutes per game (36 games) for the Razorbacks last season. His 27.0% mark on three-point tries left something to be desired, but he was considered one of the top prospects to go undrafted this year.

Following June’s draft, Council quickly latched on with Philadelphia on a two-way deal, playing for the club in Summer League and the preseason before being cut last Friday. The Sixers had to release a two-way player in order to convert Javonte Smart‘s Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract.

We don’t know exactly what Philadelphia’s thinking is in waiving Council only to bring him back five days later. However, it’s worth noting that the terms of Terquavion Smith‘s and Azuolas Tubelis‘ two-way deals called for them to have 50% of their full salaries guaranteed if they weren’t waived on or before the first day of the regular season. Council’s previous contract didn’t include those same terms.

It’s possible the Sixers always wanted to retain Council but didn’t want to deny Smith or Tubelis a payday of approximately $205K (each player had already been guaranteed $75K of his $560K two-way salary). Keeping both of those players through opening day on Tuesday ensures they’ll get their salary bumps, which won’t count against Philadelphia’s cap. I’d expect one of them – rather than Smart – was cut to make room for Council, though that hasn’t yet been confirmed.

James Harden Reports Back To Sixers

October 25th, 2023 at 10:01am CST by Luke Adams

James Harden, who had been away from the Sixers since October 15, has reported back to the team, according to Adrian Wonjarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

As Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets, Harden is expected to take part in Wednesday’s practice before the 76ers leave for Milwaukee for Thursday’s regular season opener vs. the Bucks. Wojnarowski confirms that’s the case (Twitter link).

Harden, who hasn’t played at all in the preseason and reportedly participated in just one five-on-five scrimmage back on Oct. 7, will have to ramp back up to game shape and won’t be active on Thursday in Milwaukee, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link).

Although Harden showed up prepared to travel with the Sixers to Milwaukee, the club will have him remain in Philadelphia to continue his ramp-up process, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link). After facing the Bucks, the 76ers will play in Toronto on Saturday before returning to Philadelphia to host the Trail Blazers on Sunday.

Harden, who asked the Sixers to trade him in June when he picked up his player option for the 2023/24 season, has expressed frustration with the slow pace of the negotiations multiple times in the months since then.

Back in August, he referred to Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey as a “liar” during a promotional event, later explaining to the NBA when the league investigated those comments that the club hadn’t delivered on its assurances that it would trade him “quickly.”

Harden skipped media day and the first day of training camp before reporting to the 76ers this fall. After spending nearly two weeks with the team, he departed last Sunday without an excused absence. However, Philadelphia later said Harden was away due to a personal matter, and there has been no indication that the club fined him for missing practices or its final preseason game.

Now that the regular season is underway, Harden could potentially boost his trade value a little by getting into game shape, showing that he’s fully healthy, and playing like his usual self. We’ll see if that’s the next step in this saga or if there are more surprises on tap before he takes the court this season.

Sixers Rumors: Embiid, Knicks, Harden, Morey, Smart

October 24th, 2023 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams around the NBA are paying close attention to how James Harden‘s stalemate with the Sixers gets resolved, since failing to extract a fair return for the former MVP could adversely affect the franchise’s relationship with its other former MVP, Joel Embiid. As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer details (subscription required), the division-rival Knicks are one team keeping an eye on the situation in Philadelphia.

Sources tell Pompey that acquiring Embiid would be the top priority for Knicks president Leon Rose if the star center becomes available and that New York would be willing to offer three of Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, and Evan Fournier, along with two or three first-round picks.

Pompey himself acknowledges that the Sixers would likely get stronger offers than that for Embiid and wouldn’t want to trade him to another Atlantic team anyway. It’s a moot point for now, since there’s no indication Embiid will be available for trade anytime soon.

Still, Pompey stresses that the way the 76ers settle the Harden standoff could have a ripple effect on their superstar center, and the Knicks aren’t the only team monitoring the situation to see what happens. Meanwhile, sources tell Stefan Bondy of The New York Post that Embiid is one of at least three potential star trade targets the Knicks are surveilling, along with Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns.

Here’s more on the Sixers:

As of Monday afternoon, it remained unclear “when and if” Harden plans to return to Philadelphia, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Today (Twitter video link). “The organization has taken him at his word that he’s away on a personal matter, that there is something he has to attend to,” Wojnarowski said. “But how long will they do that is certainly a question.”
Wojnarowski suggests that if Harden still hasn’t reported back to the team by its regular season opener on Thursday, it’s possible the 76ers will seek ” more clarity and a timetable” for his return. They’d would be within their rights to fine him $390K for each missed game if they’re not satisfied with his answer, Woj adds.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said on Monday that he has been in touch with Harden during his absence, Pompey writes for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I did reach out to him the other day … just to text like I would with anybody,” Nurse said. “See how he’s doing. See if he’s all right. He did text me back.” Nurse added that he didn’t get into the specifics of Harden’s potential return during his text exchange with the guard, since he “was just making sure he’s OK.”
Some people around the league who spoke to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com don’t envy the spot the Sixers and Daryl Morey are in with Harden. One front office source speculated that Morey is “not going to survive this.” Another source who has been in contact with the Clippers and other teams told Bulpett, “Daryl’s trying to steal people in trades, and nobody’s going for it. First thing, Harden’s not the same guy he was three or four years ago, so his market’s not that great. And Morey’s trying to get so much, but he’s not going to get it.”
Javonte Smart, who had his Exhibit 10 contract converted to a two-way deal over the weekend, spoke to reporters on Monday about getting a regular season opportunity with the team (Twitter video link via Pompey). Smart indicated that if the Sixers want him to play primarily with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League, he’ll view that as a chance to get regular playing time and to “get better.”

Three Players On Exhibit 9 Contracts Make Opening Night Rosters

October 24th, 2023 at 8:04am CST by Luke Adams

As we explain in a glossary entry, Exhibit 9 contracts are generally handed out by NBA teams to players who will only be with the team during training camp and/or the preseason.

The Exhibit 9 clause protects the team in case the player suffers an injury before the season begins. In that scenario, the club wouldn’t have to pay him his full salary until he gets healthy enough to play — it would only have to pay a maximum lump sum of $15K when it waives the player.

While most Exhibit 9 signees were released in advance of the regular season, three NBA veterans who signed Exhibit 9 contracts survived the cut and made their respective teams’ regular season rosters. Here are those three players:

Ryan Arcidiacono (Knicks)
Harry Giles (Nets)
Lamar Stevens (Celtics)

Note: Hornets guard Edmond Sumner was initially included in this list, but Charlotte waived him on Tuesday ahead of its season opener.

These three players will now be on one-year, minimum-salary contracts that will remain non-guaranteed until January 10. In order to secure their full-season salaries, they’ll have to stay under contract beyond January 7 (a player cut on Jan. 8 or 9 wouldn’t clear waivers prior to the league-wide salary guarantee date of Jan. 10).

As our list of non-guaranteed contracts by team shows, Arcidiacono, Giles, and Stevens are three of the 31 players on standard deals whose salaries for the 2023/24 season aren’t fully guaranteed.

Several of these players will receive partial guarantees by remaining on rosters through the start of the regular season, and a few more have November or December trigger dates that will increase their guarantees. However, none of those 31 players will lock in their full salary until Jan. 10.

Here are a few more items of interest about the NBA’s opening night rosters for ’23/24, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):

The Spurs have the NBA’s youngest roster, while the Clippers have the oldest.
Players are earning a combined total salary of $4.8 billion for the 2023/24 season. The Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers, Heat, Bucks, Pelicans, Sixers, and Suns are the biggest contributors to that pool, as they’re all currently over the luxury tax line.
As our roster counts page shows, there are 12 open spots on standard 15-man rosters around the NBA. Those openings belong to the Celtics, Bulls, Cavaliers, Pistons, Warriors (two), Lakers, Heat, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, and Kings.
The Nets and the Suns are the only two teams that haven’t filled all three of their two-way slots, as our tracker shows. They’re each carrying a pair of two-way players, meaning 88 of the 90 spots around the league are occupied.

Maxey, Quickley, Williams Among Players Who Didn’t Sign Extensions

October 23rd, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

An unusual number of players who were eligible to sign rookie scale extensions prior to Monday’s deadline inked new deals. A total of 14 players received rookie scale extensions in 2023, blowing away the previous single-year record of 11.

However, nearly half of the 27 eligible players didn’t sign a contract and thus will head to restricted free agency, if they are extended qualifying offers by their respective teams after the season. Otherwise, they’ll be unrestricted free agents next summer.

Perhaps the biggest name on the list is Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey, though that comes with an asterisk. The Sixers front office and Maxey mutually agreed to put off an extension so that Philadelphia could maximize its cap room next summer.

Immanuel Quickley and Patrick Williams are two of the other big-time names on the list who didn’t reach agreements with their teams. While the Knicks and Quickley’s reps — as well as the Bulls and Williams’ reps — held extension talks as the deadline neared, they couldn’t come to terms on the numbers.

Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn (Raptors), Saddiq Bey (Hawks), James Wiseman and Killian Hayes (Pistons), Kira Lewis (Pelicans), Chuma Okeke (Magic), Isaac Okoro (Cavaliers), Aleksej Pokusevski (Thunder) and Obi Toppin (Pacers) are the other eligible players who didn’t sign extensions.

A full list of the players who did, or did not, sign rookie scale extensions this offseason can be found here.

Sixers Waive Montrezl Harrell

October 23rd, 2023 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

3:44pm: The Sixers have officially waived Harrell, the team confirmed in a press release.

3:02pm: The Sixers are waiving big man Montrezl Harrell in order to reach the regular season roster limit, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Philadelphia had been carrying 16 players on standard contracts and needed to get down to 15 before opening night. Harrell was one of 14 Sixers players whose salary for 2023/24 is fully guaranteed, but he underwent knee surgery in August after tearing his right ACL and medial meniscus, making him an obvious candidate to be released.

Harrell wasn’t a significant part of Philadelphia’s rotation last season, averaging 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in just 11.9 minutes per game across 57 appearances.

That made it a bit of a surprise when the 29-year-old re-signed with the 76ers on a one-year, minimum-salary deal this summer, especially since the club also added Mohamed Bamba and Filip Petrusev to its frontcourt while retaining restricted free agent Paul Reed.

It’s possible that Harrell anticipated the team’s head coaching change could create an opportunity for more minutes. In his previous five seasons, he had put up 14.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 361 games (23.3 MPG), earning Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2020.

Although an ACL tear is an injury that has sidelined a handful of NBA players for a full year – or longer – in recent seasons, Harrell is hoping to return sometime after the All-Star break, according to Charania. That’s an aggressive recovery timeline — we’ll have to wait and see if he can achieve that goal. For what it’s worth, the 76ers will continue to support Harrell in his rehab and recovery plan, Charania adds (via Twitter).

Assuming Harrell goes unclaimed on waivers, which is a safe bet, the veteran forward/center will earn $2,891,467 while Philadelphia carries a dead-money cap hit of $2,019,706. The move clears a path for Petrusev and Danny Green – neither of whom has a fully guaranteed salary – to make the Sixers’ 15-man regular season roster.