Dwight Howard took a major step toward repairing his reputation last season with the Lakers, and now the Sixers are giving him a chance to move even further in that direction, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. After a brilliant start to his career that included eight consecutive All-Star appearances, Howard devolved into a journeyman who is now on his sixth team in six years.
He became known as a player who was more interested in joking around than winning and had disputes with teammates and coaches along the way. But Howard showed he could still be serious by earning a roster spot after signing a non-guaranteed deal with L.A. and contributing to the team’s title run as a big man off the bench. Philadelphia is counting on a similar performance as he becomes a back-up and mentor to Joel Embiid.
“Showing him some of the things that I learned over the years, the pitfalls, the things that bring you down,” Howard said of his expected relationship with Embiid, “and also that really (elevate) you up. Not just doing that through words, really through my actions.”
- The Sixers have high expectations for Shake Milton, who moved into the starting lineup midway through last season. During a Reddit chat with fans Friday night, new team president Daryl Morey talked about the potential of the second-year guard (Twitter link from Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire). “I think the league hasn’t caught up to how good Shake can be,” Morey said. “It was one of the first things (new head coach Doc Rivers) and I spoke about after I joined — we are excited to see what he can do this year.”
- The signing of Aron Baynes should improve the Raptors’ defensive rebounding, states Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Assessing areas where the team got better and worse during the offseason, Murphy notes that Baynes has the greatest defensive rebounding impact in the league since the 2015/16 season. Alex Len, another free agent addition, grabbed 25.2% of defensive rebounds last year, which would have been the best rate on the Raptors.
- Sagaba Konate, who played for the Raptors‘ G League affiliate last year, has signed with PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greek A1 league for the rest of the season, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Konate began the season with Casademont Zaragoza in Spain.
Sixers have a more well-rounded squad. Don’t think Morey is done dealing, but may not see anything until the deadline. Wouldn’t hate them trading away a roster spot to sign Batum on a min deal.
I can see them using Scott, Ferguson, Bradley, and Korkmaz (14.2M) to upgrade the rotation once they see how this squad works together for a couple months or if an injury happens.
Bjelica, Thad Young, D Rose, G Hill, Lonzo, etc..
Please take Thaddeus Young off our hands!! While you’re at it, how about bringing local boy Arch back? don’t have any use for those two on this team.
Wasn’t sure why Chicago even signed him tbh. His contract is pretty hefty though for the final year 14M w/6M guaranteed.
Except Nets
Every last season playoffs team gets worse in the East
Is this correct?
I don’t think they got enough for Richardson. But with Maxey here I get it. Milton and Maxey can give them good mins. Maxey will be a better pro. Needs to learn the game better Imo. Howard is a solid backup. Getting shooters was a big move. Green is on expiring contract. So they could do something at TD or next yr FA. I would move Ben to the wing. He can be a more consistent scorer. And handle other teams SF. He can still run team from there at times. He’s got to learn to shoot. He don’t need to be Curry just a better shooter. Sixers still a good team. Maybe Doc finally unlocks their potential.
It was worth it for both teams. Richardson is a better player than Curry. While his 3 is not as good as Seth the rest of his game is, especially defensive versatility which the mavs (and everyone lol) needs. But he was a poor fit in the sixers with our spacing issues. Seth comes on a cost controlled 8 per year, while Richardson is on an expiring deal and going to get paid. The risk on Ruchardson resigning and costing was the reason for the 2nd rd pick getting tossed in. Still IMO a good deal for both teams