Joel Embiid Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Latest Updates On Marjanovic, Embiid, Korkmaz

February 26th, 2019 at 5:20pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Boban Marjanovic fell to the floor with what appeared to be a serious knee injury during the Sixers‘ win over the Pelicans on Monday. However, testing today came back better than expected with the team announcing that Marjanovic suffered a bone bruise and a mild sprain on his right knee.

Brett Brown hopes that the 7’3″ big man won’t miss significant time, though the 76ers’ head coach won’t be relieved until Marjanovic goes closer to a return.

“You still don’t know,” Brown told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). “The new information could reveal something, but [based on] the initial sort of examination there [was] a sigh of relief given what my gut feel was.”

Marjanovic, who was acquired along with Tobias Harris prior to the trade deadline, will be reevaluated about a week. He was playing a more critical role for the Sixers because of Joel Embiid‘s absence from the court. Embiid was experiencing knee soreness coming out of the All-Star break and the team is opting to be extra cautious with their franchise center.

The Cameroon native has missed all three games since the break and he’s not expected to play in the team’s clash against the Thunder on Thursday. Jonah Bolden started at the five on Monday and will likely continue in that role with both big men sidelined.

Justin Patton was acquired in the Jimmy Butler deal earlier this season and has shuffled back and forth between the NBA club and its G League affiliate in Delaware. Patton and Amir Johnson, who did not play on Monday, are candidates to see minutes while the frontcourt gets healthy

In the press release, the team also announced that Furkan Korkmaz underwent successful surgery on his right knee, repairing a torn meniscus. The swingman will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks.

Joel Embiid, Furkan Korkmaz Sidelined For Sixers

February 20th, 2019 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers formally issued a pair of injury updates today, and neither one is great news for the team.

According to the club, Joel Embiid is experiencing soreness in his left knee and will undergo physical therapy treatment. While an MRI revealed no structural damage, Embiid will be held out of action for a few games for load management purposes and is expected to be re-evaluated in about a week, per the 76ers.

If Embiid is able to return to action in a week, he’d miss games against the Heat, Trail Blazers, and Pelicans, and would be in line to get back on the court next Thursday for a nationally televised showdown in Oklahoma City.

Meanwhile, the Sixers will also be without another rotation player – albeit a less crucial one – for the foreseeable future, as Furkan Korkmaz has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee. The Sixers are currently assessing treatment options, with surgery among the potential pathways under consideration. For now, Korkmaz has been ruled out definitely.

Jonah Bolden, Boban Marjanovic, and Amir Johnson are among the candidates to receive some extra playing time in Embiid’s absence, while Korkmaz’s injury may give the Sixers the opportunity to take a longer look at a couple of their newest additions, Jonathon Simmons and James Ennis.

Sixers Notes: Brand, Harris, Embiid, Milton

February 14th, 2019 at 9:43am CST by Luke Adams

Since taking over as the Sixers‘ general manager during the 2018 offseason, first-time GM Elton Brand has taken a pair of huge swings, completing separate trades for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. The team’s aggressive approach to collecting talent stands in stark contrast to the slow, deliberate “Process” of the last few years, but as Michael Lee of The Athletic writes, the 76ers believe the time is right to start going all-in in search of a title.

“I think our window is now,” principal owner Josh Harris said. “I hope that we’re a championship contending team. What we’ve said is that we want to advance further in the playoffs, for sure and we’re going to try our hardest to be a championship contending team this year. Obviously, that’s what everybody wants to do, but I think we’re positioned with enough talent to do that.”

While those blockbuster trade represented a new approach to roster-building for the Sixers, they didn’t necessarily come as a huge surprise, since Brand has talked throughout his tenure about the club’s window opening due to the rapid growth of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

“Our opportunity is now,” Brand said, per Lee. “Who knows how long this window is going to be open?”

Here’s more on the Sixers:

Tobias Harris has fit in nicely with the Sixers through his first few games in Philadelphia, and spoke about his smooth transition, as Lee relays in the piece linked above: “I’m pretty smart. I pretty much knew a lot of what they ran before getting here. I just look forward to being a sponge, soak everything and get as much info as possible. It’s the same approach, but also, getting your mind right helping a team, being able to do something that they’ve been wanting to do for some time now. So it’s expectations, but you’ve got to keep working everyday and build towards that.”
After sharply criticizing the officiating in Tuesday’s game against Boston, Joel Embiid was hit with a $25K fine on Wednesday, the league announced (link via ESPN.com). Embiid concluded his post-game podium appearance on Tuesday night by declaring, “The referees f—ing suck,” an apparent reference to a play in the final minute when he was hit across the arm by Al Horford and no foul was called.
Rookie guard Shake Milton, who is on a two-way contract with the 76ers, underwent surgery this week to repair a fracture in his right hand, the club announced in a press release. Milton has only appeared in 13 games so far for Philadelphia this season, so his absence won’t impact the team’s rotation. He’ll be re-evaluated in about two or three weeks.

LeBron, Giannis Draft 2019 All-Star Teams

February 7th, 2019 at 6:23pm CST by JD Shaw

LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo drafted their teams for the 2019 All-Star Game on Thursday, officially finalizing the rosters for this year’s contest. James and Antetokounmpo were chosen as captains because they were the All-Star starter from each conference with the most fan votes.

Both James and Antetokounmpo first had to select from a pool of starters, then from a list of reserve players. The starters, which consisted of eight other players, were voted on by the fans, players and media this season. The reserve players were voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches.

James drafted Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden as starters, choosing Durant as his first selection. His reserves were Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal and Dwyane Wade.

Antetokounmpo drafted Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kemba Walker as his starters, selecting Curry with his first pick. He drafted Khris Middleton, Nikola Jokic, Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin, D’Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Kyle Lowry and Dirk Nowitzki as his reserves.

James later traded Westbrook to Team Giannis in exchange for Simmons, making an effort to repair the relationship of Westbrook and Embiid.

The 68th NBA All-Star Game is set to commence on February 17 at Spectrum Center, featuring 26 of the best basketball players in the world.

NBA Announces 2019 All-Star Starters

January 24th, 2019 at 6:26pm CST by JD Shaw

The NBA announced the starters and captains for the 2019 All-Star Game on Thursday, with the Lakers’ LeBron James and Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo being named team captains for their respective conferences.

The Western Conference starters are comprised of James, Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, Rockets guard James Harden, and Thunder forward Paul George.

Antetokounmpo, Hornets guard Kemba Walker, Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, and Sixers center Joel Embiid were named starters in the Eastern Conference.

James (4,620,809 votes) and Antetokounmpo (4,375,747 votes) received the most fan votes from each conference in the past month, giving them the honors of being captains this season.

James and Antetokounmpo will draft their teams from the list of these starters and reserves on Thursday, February 7, hours after the NBA’s trade deadline. The All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, February 17, with the reserve players set to be announced next Thursday night.

We made our All-Star picks for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference earlier this week.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Noel, Butler, Fultz

January 20th, 2019 at 10:20am CST by Arthur Hill

Joel Embiid‘s back soreness is creating a dilemma for the Sixers as they battle for home court advantage in the playoffs, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia may prefer to rest Embiid, but the team leads Boston by only a game and a half in the race for fourth place and is in the middle of a challenging 12-game portion of its schedule.

Embiid said his back was “pretty tight” after Saturday’s loss to the Thunder, but his first choice is always to play. He missed his first two NBA seasons with a broken bone in his foot and appeared in just 51 games last year as the team was being cautious about his condition.

“I have to keep getting treatment on it,” Embiid said of his back, “and it’s going to get better.”

Pompey observes that Embiid moved gingerly on the court yesterday and used a heating pad on his back when he went to the bench. It could turn into a season-long question for the Sixers as they balance the value of home court advantage against the prospect that Embiid won’t be 100% at playoff time.

There’s more Sixers news to pass along:

Nerlens Noel‘s appearance in Philadelphia yesterday with the Thunder served as a reminder that he could have been the rim-protecting backup center that the Sixers need, Pompey notes in a separate story. The sixth player chosen in the 2013 draft, Noel spent two and a half seasons in Philly before being traded to the Mavericks. He signed with Oklahoma City last summer.
Two months after acquiring him from the Timberwolves, the Sixers are still working to make Jimmy Butler fit with all their other pieces, according to Derek Bodner of The Athletic. He finds that Butler’s usage rate when he’s on the court with Embiid is just 18.1%, well below the 28.2% mark when he’s playing without Embiid or 27.8% when he and Ben Simmons are together without Embiid.
The Sixers welcomed Markelle Fultz back to the team this weekend, but his future remains cloudy, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Fultz will remain with the organization as he does rehab work after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, but there’s no timetable for him to start playing again. “It’s great to see him … it’s good to have him back,” said coach Brett Brown, who added that the team needs to assess whether he’s in basketball shape after being away so long.

O’Connor’s Latest: Spurs, Porzingis, Sixers, Wolves

January 8th, 2019 at 12:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs are viewed by front office sources around the NBA as a team with “significant interest” in Kristaps Porzingis, reports Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Porzingis will be a restricted free agent this summer and while the Knicks are expected to retain him, they may be pushed by rival suitors if they’re unwilling to put a fully guaranteed maximum salary offer on the tables themselves.

Of course, as O’Connor acknowledges, San Antonio isn’t particularly well positioned to make Porzingis a lucrative long-term offer. Even if they waive and stretch Pau Gasol, who has a partially guaranteed salary for 2019/20, the Spurs will have about $96MM+ in guaranteed contracts on their books for next season.

That $96MM+ figure doesn’t account for San Antonio’s first-round pick or any other cap holds. Assuming a projected salary cap of $109MM, the team would need more than $27MM in room to offer Porzingis his maximum salary. In other words, even if the Spurs’ does have serious interest in the Knicks’ young big man, they’d have to reshape their roster substantially to go after him — New York’s top competition for Porzingis may ultimately come from elsewhere.

Here’s more from O’Connor:

While Jimmy Butler‘s issues with the Sixers‘ offensive system appear real, league sources tell O’Connor that the All-NBA swingman has “developed a good relationship” with Philadelphia stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. On Monday night, we passed along Butler’s comments on Brett Brown and the coach’s system.
Karl-Anthony Towns said on Monday that no one saw the firing of Tom Thibodeau coming, and it seems that doesn’t just apply to the Timberwolves‘ players — sources tell O’Connor that the decision came as a shock to many in the organization, and some staffers are “in limbo with no idea about what will happen next.”
According to O’Connor, league sources believe Fred Hoiberg will be a top candidate for the Timberwolves‘ permanent head coaching position, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday. However, there have been no formal conversations between Hoiberg and owner Glen Taylor about the job, and the club is expected to wait until the offseason to make any decisions on its full-time coach and general manager. For now, coach Ryan Saunders and GM Scott Layden will remain in those roles.

Jimmy Butler Challenges Brett Brown Over Role

January 4th, 2019 at 2:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Just a few months after his trade request endlessly dominated headlines in Minnesota, Jimmy Butler has “aggressively challenged” Sixers head coach Brett Brown on his role in Philadelphia’s offense, league sources tell Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. The situation has complicated an “already tenuous” chemistry among Butler and star teammates Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, according to Shelburne and Wojnarowski.

Since joining the Sixers, Butler has averaged 18.0 PPG in 31.7 minutes per contest (21 games). Both of those marks would be his lowest averages since 2013/14. His usage rate (23.1%) is also down from recent years.

Butler would prefer to play more traditional pick-and-roll and isolation sets, rather than trying to find his place in the Sixers’ free-flowing offense, Shelburne and Wojnarowski write. As he works through those concerns, Butler has met privately with Brown and his assistants, as well as GM Elton Brand, per ESPN’s report.

Sources tell the ESPN duo that Butler has been “vocal” in questioning Brown and his system, including a recent film session in Portland that some witnesses viewed as “disrespectful.” However, Brown has told people within the 76ers’ organization that he had no issues with that exchange and considered it within the confines of the relationship he has developed with his new All-NBA swingman. As for Butler, a source close to the 29-year-old points out to ESPN.com that his direct style of communication can come off as combative when he expresses an opinion.

Despite posting a 17-8 record since acquiring Butler, the Sixers have been slow to assimilate the former Timberwolf into their system and have yet to find the perfect on-court role for him alongside Embiid and Simmons, which has caused some concern about his “long-term viability and fit” with the franchise, league sources tell Shelburne and Wojnarowski. According to the ESPN duo, Brown had already dedicated significant time working on the relationship between Embiid and Simmons, and incorporating Butler as well has compounded those challenges.

Still, the Sixers remain focused on making things work in this season and beyond. Ownership and management is also still very fond of Brown, so there’s an urgency around the organization for the head coach and his staff to stabilize the situation and get everyone on the same page, according Shelburne and Woj.

Since Butler will be a free agent this summer, he’d have an opportunity to join a new team if things don’t work out in Philadelphia. According to ESPN, his preference has been to sign a lucrative, long-term deal with the Sixers, who can offer more years and money than any other suitor, but it sounds like the club will need to get more comfortable with the fit before it’s ready to put that kind of offer on the table. Sources tell Shelburne and Woj that rival teams believe Butler will ultimately decide to meet with other teams in July, in addition to the 76ers.

Atlantic Notes: Hollis-Jefferson, Embiid, Smart, Burke

December 30th, 2018 at 3:56pm CST by JD Shaw

Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson suffered another groin injury on Saturday, but the severity of the issue isn’t worse than his strained right adductor from this past summer, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.

Hollis-Jefferson sustained the injury as the team played Milwaukee, with the 23-year-old heading to the locker room for examination and being ruled out of the game early.

“Yeah,” he said, “I felt a little strange feeling on a crossover going baseline. It just felt weird to me so I just wanted to be cautious and talk to our training staff, see what was going on.”

Hollis-Jefferson missed the entire preseason following his adductor injury on Aug. 4, making his debut nearly 12 weeks after the injury on Oct. 24. News of his Saturday’s injury not being worse than the problem in August comes as a relief for Brooklyn, a team already playing without talented wing Caris LeVert.

Hollis-Jefferson has started in 19 of 34 games this season, averaging 9.9 points per contest while playing his usual stellar defense. He’ll undergo further examination on Sunday with hopes of making a return in the near future.

“You know where your groin is, so I knew it was my groin,” Hollis-Jefferson said, according to Lewis. “But I’m no doctor, so I didn’t know “Oh, it’s this severe” or whatever the case may be. I knew it was my groin. A little sore. But we’ll go see [Sunday], check and see how it feels, how everything is.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division today:

Sixers All-Star Joel Embiid is quietly building a case for Defensive Player of the Year this season, Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com writes. Philadelphia sports an impressive 101.9 defensive rating when Embiid is on the court, turning into a different team when he’s protecting the rim. “I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again, he is the Defensive Player of the Year,” coach Brett Brown said. “When I look at our metrics, his impact on this team is overwhelming.”
Before the Celtics‘ game against the Rockets last week, coaches from both teams praised Marcus Smart for the intensity he brings on defense. Smart notched 11 points, three assists and a steal in the game, defending players such as James Harden and Eric Gordon. “Just his ability to stick his nose into everything and stamina, strength, and then being willing to do all the dirty work,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said of Smart, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “He’s one of the better defenders in the league. He’s like P.J. [Tucker] for us. They do what’s needed. And some people have noses for the ball, situations they can think they’re way out of defensively. He does that.”
Knicks guard Trey Burke has regained his love for basketball while playing in New York, Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News writes. Burke started his career with the Jazz, a tumultuous time period he still reflects on today. “I’ve had to figure the league out,” Burke said. “I think individually it helped me kind of look myself in the mirror and re-evaluate what I needed to get better at and the areas I needed to grow in.”

Atlantic Notes: Ntilikina, Horford, Sixers, Irving

December 27th, 2018 at 7:02pm CST by JD Shaw

Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina is set to return to the rotation after sitting out of the team’s game on Christmas, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. The Knicks will play the Bucks on Thursday night, the second matchup between the teams this week.

“He’s a pro, man,” coach David Fizdale said of Ntilikina. “He says, ‘Coach, don’t you worry about that.’ That’s how he talks. He says, ‘I don’t want you to worry about that. I know you are going to get me back in there at some point and I won’t let you down.’

“For a 20-year-old kid to think that way and talk that way even though I know it hurt him, and I know it was hard on him, and I didn’t want to do that to him — he just handled it great. I want him to have a shot back at these guys.”

Ntilikina’s sudden benching likely harmed his confidence, but the 20-year-old has stayed ready for a second opportunity. His mother traveled to New York for the Christmas Day game, according to Berman, making the sudden DNP sting even more for the second-year player.

Ntilikina has averaged 6.3 points per contest in 31 games this season, shooting 34% from the field and 29% from 3-point range. The Knicks drafted him with the No. 8 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Al Horford‘s return brought a calming effect to the Celtics this week, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports writes. Horford returned to Boston’s lineup on Christmas against the 76ers, producing nine rebounds, six assists and solid all-around leadership. “[Horford] just brings a calming presence,” said teammate Kyrie Irving. “[There’s] nothing like having a plus-12[-year] vet out there that knows how to play basketball. He makes the game a lot easier with screening, rebounding, defense, all the intangibles that just demand that effort. And he’s just always locked in, in the game plan.”
Despite Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid not being a flawless fit together, the duo still has several years to work out the kinks and improve as members of the Sixers, David Murphy of Philly.com opines. Philadelphia currently owns a 22-13 record behind the production of Simmons, Embiid and Jimmy Butler, good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Despite the Celtics‘ recent success, All-Star Kyrie Irving will need more help if the team hopes to make a late postseason run, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. The Celtics were expected to be at the top of their conference entering 2019, but the team holds just a 20-13 record and the fifth seed 33 games into the season. Boston sports a talented mix of players around Irving that includes Horford, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward.