In his latest podcast, Patrick Beverley said he consulted with former Sixers coach Doc Rivers before deciding to sign with Philadelphia (video link from Barstool Sports). Beverley describes Rivers as a “mentor” and said he often reaches out to him before making important decisions.
“This is a Hall of Fame coach who just got fired, and his exact words: ‘I love Philadelphia for you; they need you,'” Beverley said. “‘You will be great with Joel (Embiid). James (Harden), he respects you, you will be great with him. If I had you last season, we would have been a different team.'”
Beverley, who agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary deal, said he was planning to talk to the Celtics and Wizards, but changed his mind after getting Rivers’ endorsement of the Sixers.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets and guard Edmond Sumner have agreed to push back his salary guarantee date, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Sumner’s $2,239,943 non-guaranteed salary for 2023/24 had previously been on track to fully guarantee if he wasn’t waived today, as our tracker shows. His new guarantee date is July 15, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
- Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey showed good judgment by not letting his fondness for Harden affect what’s best for the team, writes Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Morey has a long relationship with Harden going back to Houston, but he wasn’t willing to give the 34-year-old former MVP the pricey long-term contract he wanted. Hayes states that the first indication that Morey wouldn’t give in to Harden came when he hired Nick Nurse as his new head coach instead of Mike D’Antoni, a longtime Harden favorite.
- Under different circumstances, the Celtics might have been willing to give Grant Williams the four-year, $54MM deal he received from the Mavericks, suggests Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Forsberg believes the Celtics would have paid that price for Williams before last season started or if they had been able to unload Malcolm Brogdon‘s salary. But the addition of Kristaps Porzingis affected Boston’s financial picture and likely would have reduced Williams’ role on the team. Forsberg points out that the Celtics are about $7MM below the second apron and have limited options to replace Williams, which should result in more playing time for Sam Hauser and other young players.
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic looks at potential deals for the Raptors after losing point guards Fred VanVleet and Dalano Banton in free agency. The most prominent name is Brogdon, whom Koreen believes might be available in exchange for Gary Trent Jr. Koreen also eyes trades involving Delon Wright, Ricky Rubio, Devonte’ Graham, Payton Pritchard, Killian Hayes, Cole Anthony and Kira Lewis.
When a salary guarantee date is pushed back, that’s usually a sign the team is not planning to keep you. I like Sumner, but the signing of Lonnie Walker IV may have made his skillset redundant. I still think it’s worth it to have him on the roster at that price.
What in the world was the point of Harden leaving the Rockets if his preference would be for the Sixers to copy everything the Rockets did anyway? He has the same GM and reports are he wanted the same coach. Is he really expecting a different result with the same process?
It makes me wonder if there was another reason he forced his way out of Houston.
New owner was cheap…
Are these 3 free agents hurt 76ers more than Harden?
76ers lost 3 key players since February
Georges Niang signed a 3 year / $26,000,000 contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers,
Trail Blazers RFA Matisse Thybulle gets $33,000,000
Milton gets $10,000,000
Morey has a history to lose key players due to bad tax plan.
People need to stop pretending the Raps “lost” Banton. Wouldla coulda shoulda…the guy did nothing in Toronto. I don’t care if he had limited minutes, he did squat with the time he did have on the court. It was the same nonsense when the Raps didn’t guarantee Dowtin contract last year and local media like lewenberg cried and complained to no end how they made a mistake. Then they qualify him and it actually turns out he had a bad ankle. Media needs to start reporting facts not their damn opinions!