Sixers Rumors: Maxey, Reed, Offseason Targets, Harris, Hield, Oubre
While the Sixers are disappointed by how quickly their playoff run ended this spring, there are reasons for optimism going forward. For one, guard Tyrese Maxey showed this season that he’s an impact player capable of becoming a legitimate second star alongside center Joel Embiid, according to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“He was amazing this year,” Embiid said of his teammate, per Mizell. “One of the 10 best players in the world this year. … He’s gotten so much better. I think there’s another step he can even take.”
Maxey will be a restricted free agent this summer, but that’s just a technicality — he will count against the Sixers’ cap for just $13MM until he signs his new contract. After using up their cap room, the 76ers will be able to go over the cap to lock him up to a maximum-salary deal that projects to be worth at least $35MM in 2024/25 — or up to $42.3MM if Maxey makes an All-NBA team.
Because the Sixers didn’t win a playoff series, Paul Reed‘s $7.7MM salary for ’24/25 will remain non-guaranteed, which means the club could potentially enter free agency with only Embiid’s salary ($51.4MM) and Maxey’s $13MM cap hold counting toward team salary. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), Philadelphia could have up to $64.9MM in cap room with just those two players on the books. That number would be closer to $55MM if the 76ers retain Reed and their first-round pick.
What might the Sixers do what that cap room? Sources tell Bontemps that Jrue Holiday was a top target until he signed an extension in Boston. OG Anunoby is also on their wish list, per Bontemps, though he’s considered likely to re-sign with the Knicks. Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst identified Paul George as Philadelphia’s No. 1 priority and said he thinks the team will make George a maximum-salary offer, assuming he hasn’t re-upped with the Clippers before free agency.
If no top-tier free agents are available, Daryl Morey and the Sixers figure to turn to their trade market, since they’ll have several first-round picks available to move and won’t have to send out matching salary. Windhorst mentions Heat swingman Jimmy Butler and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram as a pair of possible trade targets for the Sixers.
On the other hand, it’s not necessarily a star-or-bust summer for Philadelphia, according to Bontemps, who says one other potential path for the club would be to pursue a series of role players who complement Embiid and Maxey, like the Nuggets have done around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. In that scenario, the Sixers could explore re-signing a few of their own free agents, such as Kelly Oubre, De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, and/or Kyle Lowry. League sources expect Tobias Harris to be playing elsewhere next season though, per Bontemps.
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- A reunion with Butler feels like a long shot, but David Aldridge of The Athletic argues that the former Sixer is exactly the kind of “alpha” the team needs to complement Embiid and Maxey. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) suggests that he can’t imagine the Heat accepting a trade package heavy on draft assets for Butler unless they planned to flip those assets for another star.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) and Mark Deeks of HoopsHype shared their Sixers offseason previews, taking a closer look at the decisions facing the franchise.
- Veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who will be an unrestricted free agent, said that he would like to return to Philadelphia, tweets Mizell. Hield scored 20 points in 21 minutes in Game 6 on Thursday but had only scored two points and had a pair of DNP-CDs in the five playoff games before that.
- Oubre also expressed interest in re-signing with the Sixers, suggesting that he feels like he has “unfinished business” after the first-round loss. “I just wanna be loved,” Oubre said of his priorities in free agency, according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “I don’t know about the business side of it. I mean, I do, but I can’t tell you what I know because I represent myself right now. At the end of the day, I wanna go somewhere where they respect and they love me. It’s been nothing but love here, of course.”
- Taking a bigger-picture view, Danny Chau of The Ringer considers what another early playoff exit means for Embiid and his legacy.
And-Ones: All-In Teams, Second Apron, Paris, Larkin
The Suns, Lakers and Heat have all mortgaged significant future assets and spent a lot of money to make themselves better in the present, yet none of the three won 50 games in the regular season and they combined to win just two playoff games before being eliminated in the first round, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic.
As Hollinger details, all three teams face difficult questions entering the offseason, with Phoenix’s long-term outlook particularly problematic. Still, the best course of action for all three might be making relatively minor moves instead of going even more all-in than they already are, says Hollinger.
In the short-term, Miami is probably in the worst position of the three teams from a talent perspective, according to Hollinger, but the Heat have better young players than Phoenix and L.A. and have proven adept at developing undrafted free agents.
Seven of the NBA’s 10 biggest spenders in 2023/24 have already been eliminated from championship contention, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Those teams are, in order, the Warriors (No. 1), Suns (No. 3), Bucks (No. 5), Heat (No. 7), Lakers (No. 8), Pelicans (No. 9) and Sixers (No. 10).
The Clippers, who had the league’s second-highest payroll this season, also trail their first-round series with Dallas, Marks observes. Only the Celtics (No. 4) and Nuggets (No. 6) have advanced to the second round.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:salary cap
- Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports takes a closer look at the NBA’s second tax apron, a new addition to last year’s CBA. The most restrictive aspects of the second apron will kick in this offseason, Fischer notes.
- The NBA confirmed in a press release that Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs will face Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers for a pair of regular season games in Paris next year. The games in France’s capital will be held on January 23 and January 25, 2025.
- Guard Shane Larkin, who played four NBA seasons with Dallas, New York, Brooklyn and Boston from 2013-18, has signed a four-year extension with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes, the team announced in a press release (via Twitter). The 31-year-old has been one of the best players in Europe over the past several years, averaging 16.8 PPG, 5.1 APG, 2.9 RPG and 1.1 SPG on .464/.395/.912 shooting in 34 EuroLeague contests in ’23/24 (31.7 MPG).
Heat Notes: Butler, Herro, Trade Assets, Bam
All-NBA Heat forward Jimmy Butler is expected to seek a two-year, maximum-salary contract extension with Miami, worth approximately $113MM, before the start of the 2024/25 season, a source tells Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
The theoretical deal would kick in for 2025/26. Butler has a $52.4MM player option for that year, which the extension would replace.
If Miami opts to not extend Butler, Chiang argues, the team could be faced with an unhappy star. The 34-year-old swingman led the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances – and an additional appearance in the Eastern Finals – during his first four seasons with the club, though he has dealt with a series of injuries, including an MCL sprain that knocked him entirely out of the playoffs this year.
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald speculates about the potential trade haul Miami could receive in exchange for its best player should the team opt not to extend Butler.
There’s more out of Miami:
- Following a first-round playoff elimination marred by injuries, the Heat face a variety of questions about their future this offseason. The biggest, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel contends, surrounds what Miami brass wants to do with shooting guard Tyler Herro. Winderman wonders if Miami will look to trade the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year this summer, or if it will consider demoting him back to a bench role going forward. Herro is owed $93MM across the remaining three years of his deal.
- With the Heat set to explore the trade market this summer, Jackson takes stock of the club’s movable assets, consulting with a rival scout on the value of those pieces. The scout criticized Herro’s inconsistency both as a player and as an injury risk. As far as young players still on rookie scale deals go, the scout is high on the ceilings of forwards Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic. The scout also addressed the contracts of guards Duncan Robinson and Terry Rozier, Miami being a potential trade destination for Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, and more.
- One fascinating potential internal change the Heat could consider, according to one alum who still works for the franchise, is shifting All-Star center Bam Adebayo from center to power forward, writes Jackson in another piece. While on the ESPN program “First Take” this week, 20-year Miami vet Udonis Haslem explained why he thinks the 6’9″ big man could benefit from a positional move. “He can guard all five positions but he would have even more of a matchup at the 4 position where we can post him up and do different things with him,” Haslem said. “Go for a center and possibly another scoring guard.” Haslem is currently the Heat’s vice president of basketball development, and also hosts a podcast with fellow ex-Heat champion Mike Miller.
Heat Notes: Wright, Offseason Decisions, Butler, Draft
The Heat’s season ended in an appropriate way Wednesday night — with another new starting lineup. Injuries have forced coach Erik Spoelstra to juggle his rotations since training camp, and he unveiled his 37th starting unit in Game 5 at Boston, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Rookie Jaime Jaquez was unavailable because of a hip injury he suffered in Game 4 and Spoelstra didn’t want to start Duncan Robinson, who has been limited by a back condition since late in the regular season, so veteran guard Delon Wright made the first playoff start of his career. Wright provided eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 33 minutes, but he had to leave the game briefly to get stitches in his lower lip and chin after being hit by an elbow.
In addition to Jaquez, Miami was without Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson, who all missed the entire series due to injuries. However, Spoelstra refused to use that as an excuse, Chiang tweets.
“We’re not going to put this on the fact that we had some injuries,” Spoelstra said. “Let’s not take anything away from Boston. They’ve been the best team in basketball all season long.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- The early playoff exit leaves the franchise with a long offseason and a lot of financial decisions ahead, Chiang adds. Part of the future will be determined by player options held by Caleb Martin ($7.1MM), Kevin Love ($4MM), Richardson ($3.1MM) and Thomas Bryant ($2.8MM). Orlando Robinson has a non-guaranteed $2.1MM contract for next season, while Wright, Haywood Highsmith and Patty Mills are all headed for unrestricted free agency.
- Miami faces a difficult decision on Jimmy Butler, who will become extension-eligible this summer, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes in his offseason preview for the Heat. Butler will make $48.8MM next season and holds a $52.4MM player option for 2025/26. Beginning July 7, he can sign a one-year extension worth $58.6MM, which would retain his ’25/26 salary, or a two-year, $112.9MM extension that would void the player option. Marks points out that Butler will turn 35 during the offseason and hasn’t topped 65 games in any of the last four years.
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald examines the Heat’s options in this year’s draft. Players who could still be on the board when Miami picks at No. 15 include Purdue center Zach Edey, Duke power forward/center Kyle Filipowski, Providence guard Devin Carter, Colorado forward Tristan Da Silva, Duke point guard Jared McCain, Baylor center Yves Missi, Kansas small forward Kevin McCullar Jr., Baylor swingman Ja’Kobe Walter, USC point guard Isaiah Collier and Illinois shooting guard Terrence Shannon Jr.
Kevin Love Says He’s Not Ready To Retire
A recent TNT report (video link) indicated that Kevin Love might be considering retirement, but the Heat big man clarified today that he’s not ready to end his career, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
Chris Haynes relayed the story of a team meeting after the Game 3 loss to the Celtics in which Bam Adebayo “challenged his teammates to bring it.” One of the players who spoke up was Love, who according to Haynes, told the locker room, “Listen guys, I don’t know how much more basketball I have left in me. So we cannot go out like this.” Haynes added that Love’s comments “resonated” with everyone on the team and helped them put the series in perspective.
Speaking to reporters after this morning’s shootaround, Love explained that the meeting actually happened several weeks ago and he didn’t mean to imply that his retirement is imminent.
“I said we have to take advantage of this opportunity and this situation because whether you’re [Nikola Jovic], and you have who knows how many left, or you’re myself, who also doesn’t know how many he has left, we got to take advantage of this,” Love said. “It could be one more year. It could be two years, three years, four years, five years. But the truth is you just don’t really know. You could miss the playoffs. You could get beat in the first round, second round, third round. Like no matter what it is, that was more like what I was saying, is we need to take advantage of the opportunity.”
Love, 35, is in his 16th NBA season and his first full year with Miami. He has a $4MM player option for next season and although he didn’t indicate whether he intends to exercise it, he made it clear that he plans to be in the league somewhere.
Chiang notes that Love’s minutes have been limited during the first-round series because of matchup problems with Boston. He was a useful backup during the regular season, appearing in 55 games and averaging 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 16.8 minutes per night.
After coming to Miami in February 2023 following a buyout with Cleveland, Love became part of the Heat’s rotation and had a consistent role during their run to the NBA Finals. He explained that his speech was intended to create the same mindset that led to last year’s playoff success.
“I think my message to the guys was like, ‘Take advantage of the time we have together,’” Love said. “Even last year, too, I felt like we did that and that run is something that will stick out in my mind forever. I think it will for all Heat fans and players who were a part of it.”
Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Horford, White, Tatum
Holding a commanding 3-1 lead against an injury-riddled Heat team, the Celtics may not need any more contributions from Kristaps Porzingis to get through the first round of the playoffs. But Boston’s odds of winning a title this spring would take a serious hit without a healthy Porzingis available in future rounds.
After the Celtics announced on Tuesday that Porzingis would miss Game 5 on Wednesday due to a right soleus (calf) strain and Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the big man is expected to miss multiple games, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe clarifies (via Twitter) that no one considers it to be a season-ending injury.
According to Himmelsbach, the Celtics have yet to provide a specific timeline for Porzingis’ recovery and potential return because they want to see how he responds to treatment first.
Appearing on FanDuel’s Run it Back show on Wednesday morning (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said he expects the club to treat the soleus strain like a “week-to-week” injury, suggesting that Porzingis might end up missing just a week or two, though there’s a chance he’ll be sidelined for longer than that.
Here’s more on the Celtics as they prepare for a possible close-out game at home vs. the Heat:
- For as long as Porzingis is unavailable, Al Horford is expected to move into the starting lineup, with Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman acting as his primary backups at the five, writes Jay King of The Athletic. As King observes, Horford played 21 of the final 24 minutes in Game 4 following Porzingis’ exit, but that level of workload likely won’t be sustainable for the 37-year-old on a regular basis going forward, so the team will need effective minutes from its reserves.
- Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Porzingis combined to shoot just 17-of-47 (36.2%) from the field in Game 4, but Derrick White‘s 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting helped propel the team to victory. In a separate story for The Athletic, King takes a look at White’s career night and details why his teammates want to see him continue to seek out his own offense. “When he’s being aggressive it just opens everything up,” Tatum said. “Whatever they’re trying to take away, maybe for myself, when your teammates are hitting shots and being aggressive and attacking closeouts and making plays, it really makes us very, very hard to guard. You want everybody to be assertive and be aggressive and try to make plays. It just makes us a better team.”
- As we relayed on Tuesday, Tatum turned an ankle during the fourth quarter of Game 4 when he came down on Bam Adebayo‘s foot while attempting a jump shot after a whistle (Twitter video link). The star forward was ultimately fine, but Horford wasn’t happy about Adebayo contesting Tatum’s shot and getting into his landing area during a dead ball. “I know that we get to playing around and trying to contest shots after fouls and things like that, but there’s levels to contest,” Horford said, per Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. “And if a guy shooting and the play is over with, just kind of let him be. I know he’s trying to compete over there, but I was just mad. I don’t want to see any of my guys get hurt or anything like that. Thankfully, JT is fine, but it could have been bad.”
Southeast Notes: Jaquez, Aller, Harrel, Redick
Add Jaime Jaquez Jr. to the list of injured Heat players. Jaquez suffered a right hip flexor strain during Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against Boston on Monday, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The Heat rookie has already been ruled out for Game 5, Winderman tweets. Terry Rozier (neck) has also been ruled out for Wednesday’s game, the team tweets.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hornets have expressed significant interest in hiring Brock Aller to Jeff Peterson‘s front office staff, SNY TV’s Ian Begley reports. Aller has been the Knicks’ vice president of basketball and strategic planning since 2020. Aller, who has already been contacted by Charlotte, has been instrumental in salary cap strategy, general strategy and contract structure for New York.
- The Hornets are hiring Patrick Harrel as their new vice president of basketball insights and analysis, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer tweets. Harrel has been working for the NBA’s data science department, where he led game scheduling optimization.
- Hiring J.J. Redick as head coach would be an outside-the-box move, but he would inject life into the Hornets organization, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer opines. Redick’s candidacy was revealed early last week. His lack of coaching experience would be the major concern, but he played in the league for a long time and can relate to today’s players. The possible move is already being met with positive vibes, Boone adds.
Heat Notes: Butler, Rozier, Love, Martin, Wright
The Heat are trying not to focus on being shorthanded as they look for a way to upset the top-seeded Celtics, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. An already difficult task is being made even harder by the absence of starters Jimmy Butler, who sprained his MCL during a play-in game, and Terry Rozier, who has been sidelined with neck issues. In addition, Duncan Robinson has been limited by a lingering back injury he suffered late in the season.
“We have our guys, we have enough to get the job done,” coach Erik Spoelstra insisted after a 20-point loss in Game 3. “We understand the challenge and that’s what our competitors love about this series. We know we have to play hard and we also have to play well.”
Butler and Rozier have already been ruled out for tonight’s Game 4. Spoelstra told reporters on Sunday that Rozier is considered “day to day,” but no timetable has been set for his return. Butler was projected to miss “several weeks” after getting hurt on April 17, but he sounded optimistic in an interview with TNT’s Chris Haynes during Saturday’s game.
“I don’t know about a timeline, but we’ve been working,” Butler said. “I want to hoop. I want to get out here. I want some of this.”
There’s more from Miami:
- Spoelstra appears to be pivoting away from Kevin Love, who is facing a bad matchup against Boston, Chiang adds. The veteran big man, who was limited to one four-minute stretch in Game 3, is minus-24 in his 23 minutes of action in the series. “I was looking for a spark once we were down 20,” Spoelstra said in explaining the decision to bench Love. “This is not an indictment on anybody. Things move fast in a playoff series.”
- Caleb Martin plans to “just be assertive and not be passive” tonight after he followed a 21-point Game 2 with five points on four shots in Game 3, Chiang states in a separate story. Martin, who starred against Boston in last year’s conference finals, said he needs to look to score more often. “I think there were sometimes I passed up shots,” he said. “I felt like I was trying to get the ball moving a little bit more, being a little bit less aggressive in letting it go. So that’s on me. I can’t be as passive. I got to let the ball go.”
- Delon Wright, who missed Game 3 for the birth of a baby girl, has returned to the team and will be on the active roster tonight, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Heat Notes: Adebayo, Herro, Rozier, Richardson
With Jimmy Butler sidelined by an MCL sprain, the Heat are comfortable relying on Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro to be their on-court leaders, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Both players responded when they were asked to expand their games in Wednesday’s surprise victory at Boston. Adebayo scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and frequently served as the primary defender on Jayson Tatum.
“He had big responsibilities defensively,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Then on the road, yes, it was really important that we had a place where we could just throw the ball and just kind of get settled, especially when they would go on runs or the crowd would get in it and he produced. He was great when we needed to get it settled and he went right to his spot and was able to get some relief points for us.”
Herro took a larger role in running the offense, handing out a career-high 14 assists to go with 24 points and five rebounds. Ten of his assists came on three-pointers as Miami set a franchise record by sinking 23 threes in a playoff game.
“We need his aggressiveness, we need his scoring, we need his shooting, we need his play-making,” Spoelstra said. “Depending on the possession, it can be any one of those things. But he was good on both ends of the court. He was very good defensively, he was competing on that end, a lot of winning things.”
There’s more from Miami:
- A greater emphasis on three-point shooting was one of the adjustments Spoelstra and his staff made after the Game 1 loss, Chiang adds in a separate story. The Celtics were sending extra defenders at the Adebayo-Herro pick-and-roll, which created open shots from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Heat concentrated on switching rather than the combination of blitzing ball-handlers and drop coverage they used in the opener.
- Terry Rozier will miss his ninth straight game today with a neck issue, but he hasn’t been ruled out for the rest of the first-round series, Chiang states in a mailbag column. Rozier has undergone numerous tests to determine what’s causing the neck pain, and the Heat are being “very cautious” about his condition, Chiang adds. Rozier was a starter before being sidelined, but Chiang doesn’t believe he’ll automatically be inserted back into the starting lineup if he’s able to return.
- In the same piece, Chiang says it’s likely that Josh Richardson will pick up his $3.1MM player option and return to the team next season. Richardson owns a house in Miami and enjoys playing there, and Chiang points out that his market value will be limited after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in March.
Eastern Notes: Lillard, Giannis, Wright, Raptors, Hornets
After Shams Charania reported earlier today that Damian Lillard‘s availability for Game 4 of the Bucks‘ series with Indiana is uncertain, head coach Doc Rivers confirmed that the star guard is dealing with an Achilles strain, telling reporters that Lillard underwent an MRI.
Rivers didn’t know the results of that MRI when he spoke to the media, but he indicated that he isn’t necessarily counting on having Lillard available on Sunday, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Not looking great, but we don’t know yet,” Rivers said.
As for the Bucks’ other injured star, Rivers said that Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf strain) will be working out “hard” on Sunday morning and that the team would “make a decision” on him after that (Twitter link via Jamal Collier of ESPN).
Asked if Antetokounmpo could be available for Game 4 following his Sunday morning workout, Rivers replied, “I doubt it, but we’ll see.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- In addition to missing Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson due to injuries, the Heat will be without guard Delon Wright for Game 3 vs. Boston on Saturday as a result of a personal family matter, the team announced (via Twitter). Wright provided a spark off the bench in the first two games of the series, averaging 11.0 PPG on 63.6% shooting in 22.8 MPG.
- Keith Smith’s latest offseason previews for Spotrac cover the Raptors and the Hornets. Locking up Scottie Barnes to a rookie scale extension and Immanuel Quickley to a free agent contract will top Toronto’s to-do list this summer, while Charlotte will focus on building around LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, with a decision to make on unrestricted free agent Miles Bridges.
- In a mailbag looking ahead to the Hornets‘ summer, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer answers questions on whether the team would consider trading Ball, what Tre Mann‘s role in Charlotte will look like going forward, and what qualities the front office is seeking in its new head coach, among other topics.