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Sixers Notes: Harris, Embiid, Thybulle, Playoffs

January 5th, 2023 at 7:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though starting Sixers power forward Tobias Harris may want an extension from Philadelphia, it would behoove the team to keep him on his current deal to maximize its flexibility, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com opines in a new mailbag. Harris will be a free agent in the summer of 2024.

Neubeck notes that moving on from Harris for a better player would probably necessitate also including the rookie scale contract of impressive shooting guard Tyrese Maxey. Neubeck opines that the team should hold off on an extension unless it comes at a discount.

Elsewhere in the mailbag, Neubeck also discusses the possibility of the Sixers having a quiet trade deadline as they start to gel, closing lineups, and more.

There’s more out of the City of Brotherly Love:

All-NBA center Joel Embiid will be shelved for the Sixers’ next game, Friday against the Bulls, due to left foot soreness, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Pompey notes that this will mark Embiid’s second straight absence with the ailment.
Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers recently explained his decision to prioritize playing swingman Matisse Thybulle over Danuel House for the Sixers, Pompey writes in a recent article. “I just think Matisse is playing terrific defense,” Rivers said. “And it’s really helped us. He’s staying aggressive… overall, he’s been fantastic for us.”
Following a rocky start to their 2022/23 season, the Sixers have been coming on strong of late. The team currently boasts a 23-14 record this year, and is just 2.5 games behind the Celtics for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. But another year of regular season achievement is no longer the end game. The goal now must be making it beyond the second round of the playoffs, Pompey opines in a separate piece. Philadelphia’s opening night starting five of James Harden, Maxey, Harris, P.J. Tucker and Embiid has only been fully available eight times thus far, as Pompey notes. Whenever Embiid returns, Pompey believes the club will be able to fully assess its roster needs ahead of the February 9 trade deadline.

Eastern Notes: Heat, Crowder, Embiid, Magic, Bulls

January 4th, 2023 at 5:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have frequently been cited as a potential trade suitor for Suns forward Jae Crowder, but a source who has spoken to Miami’s front office believes the Heat may only be interested in Crowder if he’s bought out, reports Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

Jackson adds that the Heat would likely still have interest in trading for Crowder if the Suns are willing to accept a “bad contract,” which is presumably a reference to Duncan Robinson‘s deal — it still has three years and $57MM+ left after this season. However, the Suns won’t want to take on Robinson and are a good bet to eventually find a deal they like for Crowder without having to resort to a buyout. In other words, if Jackson’s source is right, it sounds like Miami is a long shot to land the veteran forward.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Sixers will be without star center Joel Embiid on Wednesday vs. Indiana due to left foot soreness, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid landed on Jaxson Hayes‘ foot during the fourth quarter of Monday’s game vs. New Orleans, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link), who says the big man will be considered day-to-day moving forward.
Magic center Wendell Carter and swingman Gary Harris have played limited roles since returning from injuries on December 23 — neither player has seen more than 25 minutes of action in any of their three games back. However, Carter and Harris will have their minutes restrictions lifted on Wednesday, per head coach Jamahl Mosley. Orlando still has four players serving suspensions and will have just nine players available vs. Oklahoma City, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.
Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago evaluates 11 hypothetical – and perhaps far-fetched – deadline trades for the Bulls submitted by fans.

Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid Earn Player Of The Month Honors

January 3rd, 2023 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Sixers center Joel Embiid have been named the NBA’s Players of the Month for December, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Both Doncic and Embiid are perennial All-NBA players when healthy, but December was an extraordinary month even by their lofty standards.

The Mavericks, who the month of December as a .500 team (10-10), went 11-4 in the games Doncic played (11-6 overall). The three-time All-Star averaged 35.1 points, 9.3 assists, and 8.5 rebounds in 36.3 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .519/.424/.752. Doncic had three 50-point games during the month, including a 60-point, 21-rebound, 10-assist performance against the Knicks last Tuesday.

Embiid’s Sixers also moved up the standings in December, winning nine of their 13 games. Embiid was a major factor in that run, averaging 35.4 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, and 1.8 BPG on .545/.417/.858 shooting in 36.1 MPG. He scored at least 44 points on three separate occasions, including pouring in 53 on Dec. 11 in a win over Charlotte.

Jayson Tatum, who won the East’s Player of the Month award for October/November, was among the conference’s long list of nominees for December. Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Donovan Mitchell, Pascal Siakam, and Franz Wagner also received consideration, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

In the West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Lauri Markkanen, Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis, and Zion Williamson were nominated for the award (Twitter link).

Eastern Notes: Isaac, Suggs, Herro, Oladipo, Embiid, Brunson

January 2nd, 2023 at 1:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley told reporters, including Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), that forward Jonathan Isaac and guard Jalen Suggs were a “full go” in Monday’s practice. While that is certainly an encouraging update, there is still no return timetable for either player, tweets Price.

The Magic are notoriously cautious when it comes to injured players, but Isaac’s absence has been exceptionally long even by their standards. He last played on August 2, 2020, when he tore his ACL, so he has missed nearly two-and-a-half years of action.

As for Suggs, he has missed 18 consecutive games with right ankle soreness. The 21-year-old has unfortunately been plagued by injuries since he was selected fifth overall in the 2021 draft. After playing in 48 of 82 games as a rookie, he has appeared in just 14 of 37 games thus far in 2022/23.

Here are a few more notes from the Eastern Conference:

Heat guard Tyler Herro, who signed a four-year extension before the season started worth a guaranteed $120MM, is emerging as a go-to clutch scorer, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Herro hit his third game-winner of ’22/23 on Saturday in Utah, Chiang notes, capping off a 29-point, nine-rebound, six-assist effort.
Victor Oladipo has had a difficult stretch over the past four years, missing a significant amount of time due to a series of leg injuries. While he has played strong defense since returning from left knee tendinosis, he has mostly struggled offensively. However, the Heat guard broke out of his slump by recording 23 points, five rebounds and five assists on Saturday. Head coach Erik Spoelstra believes it could take most of the season for him to really find his rhythm, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I told him the other day, I want him to have a little bit of grace with himself going through this process,” Spoelstra said as part of a larger quote. “We love being on this journey with him and, ultimately, I think it will still take 40 or 50 games for him to get fully in rhythm. But we got a snapshot of what it could look like at the end of this.” Oladipo has now played 11 games in ’22/23, and the Heat have 45 games remaining on their regular season schedule.
Sixers star Joel Embiid is questionable for Monday’s contest against New Orleans, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. All-NBA center is dealing with lower back soreness. Embiid is having another excellent season, posting career highs in points (33.2, second in the NBA), assists (4.6), steals (1.2) and FG% (.528).
After missing the past three games with right hip soreness, point guard Jalen Brunson will return to action for Monday’s matinee against Phoenix, the Knicks announced (via Twitter). Derrick Rose, who had been out of the rotation until Brunson got hurt, will be sidelined with a contused left knee, per the Knicks (Twitter link).

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Harden, Melton, Maxey, Tucker, King

December 27th, 2022 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

Dominant performances from Joel Embiid (35 points) and James Harden (29 points and 13 assists) were the difference in the Sixers‘ comeback win over the Knicks on Christmas Day and served as a reminder that the team’s star power can make up for some shortcomings, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

Before Embiid and Harden really got rolling and helped the Sixers pull away, De’Anthony Melton played a key role in keeping the club in the game, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who notes that the guard began the afternoon by making his first five 3-point attempts.

The performance bumped Melton’s season-long 3-point percentage to an impressive 39.2% and contributed to ongoing speculation about whether he might keep his spot in the starting lineup even when Tyrese Maxey returns from his foot injury.

According to Mizell, it’s hard to imagine Maxey not eventually regaining his starting job, but if he has a minutes limit when he returns, the team could bring him along slowly by initially having him come off the bench. Melton also could find himself playing crunch-time minutes in certain situations where a defensive specialist is required, Mizell notes, since neither Harden nor Maxey is a lock-down defender.

Here’s more on the 76ers:

The Sixers’ recent hot streak seems to be renewing enthusiasm about the upside of this year’s squad. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote after Friday’s win over the Clippers that the 76ers are starting to live up to their preseason billing as a title contender, while Rich Hofmann of The Athletic said after Sunday’s victory over New York that the club is finally showing off its offensive firepower. Philadelphia had the NBA’s 17th-best offensive rating (111.2) through its first 24 games, but has posted the league’s third-best mark (118.1) during its current eight-game winning streak.
Sixers forward P.J. Tucker revealed on Friday that he has been battling a pinched nerve, which he referred to as a “dead hand,” for the last few weeks, tweets Mizell. Tucker has been playing through the injury, but intends to keep working on it with the team’s trainers and physical therapists, Mizell adds.
In the wake of the Sixers signing Louis King to a two-way contract to replace Saben Lee, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com considers what King could bring to the team, suggesting that the former five-star recruit might be a “more intriguing lottery ticket” than Lee was.

Sixers Notes: Milton, Trade Deadline, Harden, Embiid

December 24th, 2022 at 2:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sixers guard Shake Milton, a free agent in 2023, proved critical in helping Philadelphia stay afloat in November without its starting backcourt of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. He has remained an important role player for the club even with Harden back in the lineup, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

“I remember early in my career there used to be highs and lows,” Milton told Fischer. “You never really know what it feels like until you’re in it… You gotta fight internally every day to make sure you’re in a good spot, make sure you’re putting yourself in the best place to succeed. It definitely took me my years to kind of go through that, to know how to move and how to stay with it.”

This season, the 6’5″ combo guard out of SMU is averaging 11.2 PPG on .509/.361/.849 shooting splits for the Sixers across 27 games. He is also contributing 3.4 APG and 3.3 RPG.

There’s more out of the City of Brotherly Love:

Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer provides a Sixers trade deadline primer, exploring which players could be moved. Mizell notes that, following an injury-plagued and uneven start to the season, Philadelphia has stabilized into looking like a deep championship contender. The team is currently fifth in the East with a 19-12 record. Still, the club could look into upgrading its frontcourt reserves behind starters Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker, and could perhaps seek a more traditional backup guard behind starters Harden and Maxey.
Sixers All-Stars Embiid and Harden are beginning to truly click as a dynamic duo in their first full season together, writes Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. “Constant work, constant work,” Harden said of how the two have been working to thrive together. “Talking about it, communication, go out there, do it… Obviously, you want to see each other succeed, so if I ask him something or tell him something and vice versa, he’ll do it.”
In their eight contests together since Harden returned from injury, Embiid is posting averages of 36.1 PPG while shooting 56% from the floor, along with 9.9 RPG and 3.8 APG, per Neubeck. “As soon as [the opposing team goes] to the switching, what we’ve gotten better at is just the timing,” Embiid said. “Knowing when he gets the iso, or I get the ball at the elbow, or I go to the post, that’s where we’ve gotten at. Just the timing, us working together, always talking, and he’s been great. Been on him about taking more catch-and-shoot, and he’s been doing that.”
Can the Sixers emerge out of the Eastern Conference? Weigh in on today’s Community Shootaround.

Sixers Notes: Harris, Reed, Milton, Embiid

December 22nd, 2022 at 8:03am CST by Arthur Hill

After spending most of his career as an isolation scorer, Sixers forward Tobias Harris concentrated on improving his catch-and-shoot game over the summer to provide a complementary weapon to Joel Embiid and James Harden, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The results have been impressive, as Harris is thriving in the role and the Sixers have reeled off six straight wins. He scored 17 points in 21 minutes Wednesday, two days after sinking a game-winning three-pointer against the Raptors.

Harris is averaging 17.1 points per game this season, which is his lowest mark since being acquired in a trade nearly four years ago. But he’s shooting 42.2% from beyond the arc, which would be the best figure of his career.

“I know that if you threw me out there two years ago, I wouldn’t be able to do it and get going because that wasn’t the mentality for me, catching and shooting really fast,” Harris said. “At first it was tough, but now I kind of changed my mentality toward it and just said like, ‘OK, if that’s the case and situation, how do you be the best at it?’”

There’s more from Philadelphia:

Montrezl Harrell has reclaimed the backup center role from Paul Reed, who has fallen out of the rotation over the past two weeks, Pompey states in a separate story. Reed, who saw just four minutes in Wednesday’s rout of the Pistons, acknowledges that he needs to play better. “You have to handle it like a professional,” he said. “I understand that I have areas that I need to improve on. I ain’t trippin’. I just know I have to get better so I’m putting in the work every day, and I know it’s going to pay off.”
Shake Milton‘s improvement gives the team four rotation-level guards and could lead to some interesting decisions when Tyrese Maxey returns from injury, according to Rich Hofmann of The Athletic. Hofman expects coach Doc Rivers to use more three-guard lineups when the roster is healthy with some mixture of Maxey, Harden, Milton and De’Anthony Melton.
In an interview with Cassidy Hubbarth of ESPN, Embiid rejects the idea that he and Harden aren’t ideal complements to one another. “I don’t know where that’s coming from because last year when we got him, we just kept dominating teams,” Embiid said.

Joel Embiid, Zion Williamson Named Players Of The Week

December 12th, 2022 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

Sixers center Joel Embiid and Pelicans forward Zion Williamson have been named the NBA’s players of the week, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Embiid, the Eastern Conference winner, led Philadelphia to a 2-1 week while averaging a ridiculous 43.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block on .639/.667/.889 shooting. His week was capped off by a 53-point, 12-rebound outing last night against Charlotte, making him the only player in the 2022/23 season to have multiple games of 50-plus points.

Williamson, the West’s winner, led New Orleans to a 3-0 week while averaging 33.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steal on .704/.667/.700 shooting splits. He’s been absolutely unstoppable of late, averaging 30.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks on .669/.333/.746 shooting during the Pelicans’ current seven-game winning streak. They hold the No. 1 seed in the West at 18-8.

According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic and Ja Morant, while Jarrett Allen, DeMar DeRozan, Buddy Hield, Julius Randle and Franz Wagner were nominated in the East.

Sixers Notes: Melton, Rivers, Harden, Embiid

December 10th, 2022 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

De’Anthony Melton had his best game since joining the Sixers – and arguably the best game of his career – on Friday night. The fifth-year guard established new career bests by scoring 33 points, making eight 3-pointers, and racking up seven steals in Philadelphia’s overtime victory over the Lakers.

As Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com writes, Melton was a difference-maker in a game the 76ers almost gave away and continues to show why the team was willing to give up a first-round pick for him in the offseason. Melton is averaging 11.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.3 APG, and 2.3 SPG in his first 23 games in Philadelphia (29.5 MPG), making 38.5% of his 3-point attempts and playing strong perimeter defense.

Melton has enjoyed a career year despite battling a back issue — he has hardly practiced at all this season, Joel Embiid told reporters on Friday. Melton has instead used the team’s off days to take care of his body and go through what he calls a “maintenance” process, according to Neubeck.

“I’ll take (Melton not practicing) every time if he’s going to show up to the game and do what he does every single night,” Embiid said. “He knows it, I appreciate the effort, because I find myself in that same situation quite a bit, and every single chance that I can even when I’m hurt, I want to be on the floor. So to be able to do the same even though he’s dealing with a back injury, I appreciate the effort.”

Here’s more on the Sixers:

In two more articles for PhillyVoice.com, Neubeck considers why the Sixers have been hard to watch this season and fields readers’ mailbag questions, discussing Doc Rivers‘ job security, among other topics. Although he doesn’t believe Rivers is a lock to make it through the season, Neubeck does think the veteran coach has “more security than people on social media want him to have.”
James Harden has been a Sixer for only 10 months and has played with Joel Embiid in just eight games so far this season, so head coach Doc Rivers is preaching patience, telling reporters this week that the pairing is “going to take time” to fully jell, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. As Pompey observes, Harden favors an isolation-heavy style of play and is ball-dominant, while Embiid thrives when the offense flows through him. The duo had perhaps its best game this season as a tandem on Friday, totaling 66 points and 17 assists.
There has been plenty of speculation about whether Embiid will choose to play for the U.S. or France in the 2024 Olympics, but the star center isn’t interested in discussing his FIBA future during the NBA season, as Marc Stein writes at Substack. “I don’t want to talk about international stuff,” Embiid told Stein. “I’m focused on us getting better as a team and me getting better as a player. I’m focused on making it to the playoffs and doing something there. I’m gonna worry about the rest later. For now, it’s all about trying to do whatever is possible to win a championship.”

Atlantic Notes: KD, Warren, Barnes, Embiid, Harden

December 2nd, 2022 at 5:37pm CST by Rory Maher

Kevin Durant only played 90 of 154 regular season games from 2020-22, but he h as appeared in all 23 so far this season. He currently leads the league in total minutes played and field goals made, while ranking sixth in the league in minutes per game (36.7). Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn is keenly aware of his superstar forward’s heavy workload, writes Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post.

“It’s not ideal,” Vaughn conceded on Wednesday after the Nets rode Durant to their first winning record (12-11) of the season. “While we’re in the win-now mode, win today’s game, we are behind the scenes talking about what the stretch looks like beyond tomorrow, beyond the next day. So it is on our minds.”

The problem, of course, is that the Nets have dealt with injuries and absences to key players, and they simply haven’t been good enough to reduce Durant’s minutes given their place in the standings. Brooklyn is currently the No. 8 seed in the East.

“We’ll map out some time where we’ll save a shootaround and maybe not have it, so be strategic that way,” Vaughn added, per Sanchez. “But ideally, he wouldn’t be playing this amount of minutes this early, for sure.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

As expected, Nets forward T.J. Warren is available to make his season debut Friday after last playing in late December 2020, Sanchez relays in another article for The New York Post. Vaughn will be closely watching his minutes, tweets ESPN’s Nick Friedell. Warren is ecstatic to be able to play again. “It’s a surreal moment. It’s been a long process – a very long run – and to be able to get to today, it means a lot. So I’m just super, super excited to beat all the obstacles all the uncertainty and unknowns,” Warren said, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has had an up-and-down sophomore season after winning Rookie of the Year in ’21/22. He says he knows he’s capable of more. “I feel like I can do way better than what I’m doing,” Barnes told Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. “I can contribute better in different ways. We’re trying to get more Ws in the win column and focus on team success, we’re trying to win basketball games, but of course I feel like I can be way better, yeah.”
Sixers star Joel Embiid is excited for James Harden‘s upcoming return, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.”Like I said, [Harden’s return is] all going to be fun. … We need a lot of help. You know, he’s one of our best players. And he’s so freaking good. So anything we can get at this point, we will get it,” Embiid said. Harden is reportedly targeting a Monday return at Houston, his former team.