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Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Drummond, Bridges, Celtics

September 30th, 2024 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers center Joel Embiid told reporters at Monday’s media day that he has dropped “25 to 30 pounds” during the offseason and that staying healthy in 2024/25 is his number one goal entering this fall, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“I still got a ways to go. I still want to lose more, but it’s a process,” Embiid said. “As soon as we lost last year, I just texted (Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey) and I was like, ‘We got to do whatever it takes to make sure that in the postseason I’m healthy.’ So this year is all about (that).”

Embiid has made seven straight All-Star teams and five total All-NBA teams in addition to winning a pair of scoring titles and 2023’s Most Valuable Player award. While he has expressed pride in some of those accolades in the past, he made it clear on Monday that individual awards are far down his list of goals in 2024/25.

“There’s no agenda, there’s no All-Star, there’s no All-NBA, there’s none of that,” Embiid said. “It’s whatever it takes to make sure that I get to that point and I’m ready to go because … basically every single year in my career, I’ve been hurt in the playoffs. So that’s the goal, and it’s all about doing whatever it takes to get there.”

Adding a star like Paul George and so many other players to the roster will require an adjustment period this fall, so it’s not as if the Sixers can put Embiid in bubble wrap until the spring. Morey acknowledged on Monday that finding a balance between managing the star center’s minutes and making sure the new-look roster has plenty of opportunities to establish chemistry will be important.

“We’re going to be really smart about it,” Morey said. “Obviously, we’re very focused on April, May and June. That doesn’t mean that the time right now isn’t very important as well, but we’re going to be very smart about how we manage him through the season. There’s going to be a lot of information, as we learn about how everything’s working with the entire roster.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • Appearing at the Sixers‘ media day on Monday, veteran center Andre Drummond reiterated his belief that he’s “the best rebounder to ever play the game,” as Sean Barnard of Fox Sports The Gambler in Philadelphia relays (via Twitter). As we noted last September when Drummond made a similar claim, his career rebounding percentage (25.1%) ranks first in NBA history.
  • Speaking on the most recent episode of the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Bobby Marks says he doesn’t expect Knicks forward Mikal Bridges to sign a contract extension prior to the start of the season. “The indication I’ve gotten just from talking to people is that there is not going to be an extension, that he will wait until next year to look at what the extension,” Marks said (hat tip to RealGM). “… Because he’s limited as far as the six-month rule as far as what he can extend for. Next year, he can extend for four years. It just gives him more flexibility. That could certainly change by October 21st. Maybe this (Karl-Anthony Towns) trade does change that thinking. This was talking to people before this trade happened.” As Marks alludes to, the most lucrative extension Bridges can sign before this season is for two years and about $61MM. Next offseason, he could get up to $156MM over four years.
  • The Celtics‘ sale process is expected to begin accelerating this week, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. According to Himmelsbach, the banks facilitating the sale are set to contact a group of individuals that includes both potential buyers who have expressed interest in the team and “other qualified buyers who have been targeted by the sale facilitators.”
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Sixers Sign Isaiah Mobley, Jordan Tucker To Exhibit 10 Deals

September 30th, 2024 at 12:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

12:33pm: In addition to confirming their deal with Mobley, the Sixers announced in a press release that they’ve officially signed free agent forward Jordan Tucker, who will fill the final spot on the team’s 21-man training camp roster.

Tucker, who played for Philadelphia’s Summer League team in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, has bounced around since going undrafted out of Butler in 2020, playing in the G League, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and France.

While the Sixers didn’t explicitly confirm it, it’s safe to assume Tucker also inked an Exhibit 10 deal.

9:55am: Isaiah Mobley has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Sixers, sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 25-year-old power forward spent the past two seasons on two-way deals in Cleveland, where he played alongside his younger brother, Evan. He appeared in 22 total games for the Cavaliers, averaging 2.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per night. He was selected with the 49th pick in the 2022 draft.

Mobley also has experience in the G League, where he played part of the last two seasons. The Exhibit 10 deal means he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived and spends at least 60 days with Philadelphia’s affiliate in Delaware.

The Sixers have 13 players with fully guaranteed contracts, along with Ricky Council on a non-guaranteed deal. The team’s two-way slots are filled by Justin Edwards, Jeff Dowtin and Lester Quinones, but Mobley might be able to compete for one of those with an impressive camp.

Mobley’s signing will bring Philadelphia’s roster to 20 players, one short of the offseason limit.

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Sixers Notes: Embiid, Roster Questions, New Arena

September 29th, 2024 at 1:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Last week, All-Star Sixers center Joel Embiid inked a three-season, $192.9MM contract extension that runs through 2028, with a player option for ’28/29. According to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer, this agreement is the latest example of a newfound stability in Philadelphia under team president Daryl Morey.

Mizell notes that, even with Embiid’s lengthy injury history, it was practically a given that the Sixers would lock up their best player long-term when given the opportunity. After All-Star point guard James Harden dramatically forced his way to the Clippers last season, this kind of steadying move is just what the doctor ordered.

Mizell notes that Tyrese Maxey has now evolved into an All-Star in Harden’s absence, and he, too, has been locked into a long-term new deal this summer.

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

  • In a separate article for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mizell cooks up a question for each player on the Sixers roster heading into the 2024/25 season. For Embiid, obviously the top question is how Philadelphia will manage the 30-year-old’s health throughout the regular season and heading into the playoffs. For new All-Star signing Paul George, the primary question becomes how he fits into the club’s system.
  • Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker revealed some details on the agreement to build the new, $1.3 billion Sixers arena downtown, per The Associated Press. The team will fund the project itself, without relying on the city at all, per Parker. The new deal will also require a $50MM contribution to schools, communities and local businesses to offset any potential disruptions made during the build. “I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be,” Parker said.
  • In case you missed it, the Sixers recently completed a two-way deal with free agent guard Lester Quinones.
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And-Ones: G League Trade, Brissett, Future Power Rankings, Lowe

September 27th, 2024 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns‘ and Pacers‘ G League affiliates have completed a trade involving a former No. 3 overall NBA draft pick, per a press release from the Valley Suns. Phoenix’s new affiliate acquired the returning rights to guard David Stockton from the Indiana Mad Ants in exchange for the returning rights to forward Garrison Brooks and former lottery pick Jahlil Okafor.

Brooks and Okafor were among the Suns’ picks in June’s expansion draft, but it’s unclear if either one intends to play in the G League at all in 2024/25 — they both competed overseas last season.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Free agent swingman Oshae Brissett is believed to be drawing interest from a EuroLeague team, according to a report from Sportske.net. As Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays, the Serbian outlet says that the Belgrade-based club Crvena Zvezda has its eye on Brissett as a potential target. The five-year NBA veteran, who won a title last season with the Celtics, has been on the lookout for a new home since he turned down his player option with Boston in June.
  • ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, and Tim Bontemps (Insider link) have published the latest installment of their annual “future power rankings,” which are based on each team’s projected on-court success for the next three seasons. The Thunder top this year’s version of the list, while the Celtics drop from No. 1 to No. 2 despite their 2024 championship, since their salary cap situation may get untenable in the near future. The Knicks (third) Sixers (fourth), Mavericks (fifth), Rockets (seventh), Timberwolves (eighth), and Spurs (10th) each rose five or more spots to claim a place in ESPN’s top 10.
  • Howard Beck of The Ringer sorts the NBA’s 30 teams into six separate tiers based on how clear their plans are going forward. The Nets and Wizards, in full-on rebuilds, are among the teams in the “ever-clear” top tier along with championship hopefuls like the Mavericks and Sixers, while clubs with less obvious goals, like the Hawks, Bulls, and Raptors, find themselves in the lowest “fun-house mirror” tier.
  • ESPN has laid off senior writer Zach Lowe, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Lowe is the second noteworthy NBA reporter to depart the network in recent weeks, joining Adrian Wojnarowski, who unexpectedly announced his retirement from the news industry last week.
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Sixers Sign Lester Quinones To Two-Way Deal

September 26th, 2024 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 26, 3:15pm: Quinones has officially signed his two-way deal, the Sixers announced in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 25, 11:41am: Jones has been waived to make room on the roster for Quinones, according to Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link).

SEPTEMBER 25, 8:46am: The Sixers and free agent guard Lester Quinones have agreed to a two-way contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Quinones, who will turn 24 in November, spent last season with the Warriors. He began the year on a two-way deal and then was promoted to Golden State’s standard roster in February. The 6’5″ guard appeared in a total of 37 NBA games, averaging 4.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 10.6 minutes per contest and posting a shooting line of .397/.364/.690.

Quinones spent more time in the NBA than in the G League last season, but has been an effective contributor for the Santa Cruz Warriors over the past two years, averaging 21.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 3.9 APG on .448/.362/.772 shooting in 65 total Showcase Cup and regular season games for Golden State’s NBAGL affiliate.

The Warriors opted not to tender Quinones a qualifying offer in June, making him an unrestricted free agent. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported in early July that the former Memphis Tiger was on the Sixers’ radar.

Philadelphia doesn’t currently have an open two-way slot, so either Justin Edwards, David Jones, or Jeff Dowtin will have to be waived in order to make room on the roster for Quinones.

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And-Ones: WBD Lawsuit, Top Storylines, G League Trade, More

September 25th, 2024 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The legal battle between the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery took another step forward in recent days. Responding to the NBA’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit, TBS and WBD filed a 33-page memorandum last Friday attempting to convince New York Judge Joel M. Cohen to deny that motion, per Michael McCann of Sportico.

The parent company of TNT Sports, filed a lawsuit against the NBA in July, alleging that the league was in breach of contract after it refused to recognize TNT’s right to match Amazon’s new broadcast deal with the NBA.

The latest filing from TBS/WBD insists that the league acted in bad faith to “circumvent” the network’s matching rights by including certain terms in its deal with Amazon that it knew TBS/WBD couldn’t specifically match. For instance, one clause in the NBA/Amazon agreement requires NBA games to be aired on a platform that also broadcasts NFL games. Amazon has a deal with the NFL, whereas TBS/WBD does not.

If the case continues to advance through the legal system, court records suggest a trial would be held sometime in April 2025, according to McCann.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Paul George‘s impact in Philadelphia and the Knicks’ potential hole at center are among the key storylines to monitor in the Eastern Conference this season, in the view of Fred Katz and Sam Amick of The Athletic. Katz and Amick also took a look at the top storylines to watch in the West, including whether Victor Wembanyama is ready to take the leap to superstardom, Ja Morant‘s potential redemption tour, and which second-tier team could move into the top group of contenders.
  • The South Bay Lakers, College Park Skyhawks (Hawks), and Texas Legends (Mavericks) have completed a three-team trade, with South Bay acquiring the returning rights to forward Chris Silva and center Jake Stephens in the deal, per a press release. The Skyhawks received Joirdon Nicholas‘ rights, while the Legends received multiple G League draft picks from the Lakers’ affiliate.
  • Responding to a pair of U.S. senators who criticized the NBA for partnering with Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, deputy commissioner Mark Tatum wrote in a letter that the league has followed “the lead of the U.S. government as to where it’s appropriate to engage in business around the world,” according to Mark Fainaru-Wada of ESPN. “If American policies were to change regarding business activities in and relating to Rwanda or any other BAL (Basketball Africa League) market, our actions would of course change accordingly,” Tatum said, adding that the NBA has promoted multiple social impact initiatives in Rwanda.
  • Sixers center Joel Embiid, Bucks guard Damian Lillard, and Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman are among the individuals across the NBA who are facing the most pressure entering the 2024/25 season, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer, whose top five is rounded out by Knicks forward Julius Randle and Heat wing Jimmy Butler.
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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Philadelphia 76ers

September 24th, 2024 at 3:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Free agent signings

  • Paul George: Four years, maximum salary ($211,584,940). Includes fourth-year player option and 15% trade kicker. Signed using cap room.
  • Tyrese Maxey: Five years, maximum salary ($203,852,600). Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Caleb Martin: Four years, $35,040,704. Includes fourth-year player option, 15% trade kicker, and $5,256,106 in additional unlikely incentives. Signed using cap room.
  • Kelly Oubre: Two years, $16,365,150. Includes second-year player option. Re-signed using room exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • KJ Martin: Two years, $16,000,000. Second year non-guaranteed. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Andre Drummond: Two years, $10,000,000. Includes second-year player option. Signed using cap room.
  • Eric Gordon: Two years, minimum salary ($6,772,731). Includes second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Reggie Jackson: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Kyle Lowry: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Guerschon Yabusele: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jared Brownridge: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Brownridge was subsequently waived.
  • Max Fiedler: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Judah Mintz: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick from the Mavericks in a six-team trade in exchange for Buddy Hield (sign-and-trade; to Warriors).

Draft picks

  • 1-16: Jared McCain
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $19,448,588).
  • 2-41: Adem Bona
    • Signed to four-year, minimum salary contract ($7,895,796). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed ($977,689). Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

  • Signed Joel Embiid to a three-year, maximum-salary veteran extension that begins in 2026/27. Projected value of $192,907,008. Includes third-year player option.
  • Waived Paul Reed.

Salary cap situation

  • Went below the cap to use room.
  • Now operating over the cap ($140.6MM), over the luxury tax line ($170.8MM), and between the first tax apron ($178.1MM) and second tax apron ($188.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $181.5MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • No form of mid-level or bi-annual exception available.
  • No traded player exceptions available.

The offseason so far

It used to be relatively common for NBA teams to hoard cap room in the hopes of landing an All-NBA caliber player as a free agent. That’s famously how the Heat landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010. It’s how the Warriors were able to lure Kevin Durant to Golden State in 2016. And it’s how stars like Durant (Nets), Kyrie Irving (Nets), and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) joined new teams in 2019.

Since 2019, however, with tweaks to the Collective Bargaining Agreement allowing veteran contract extensions to become more common than ever, it had become increasingly rare for star players to change teams as free agents. In recent years, players like Fred VanVleet (to the Rockets in 2023), pre-All-Star Jalen Brunson (Knicks in 2022), and post-prime Gordon Hayward (Hornets in 2020) were among the most prominent free agents to change teams via cap room.

All that is to say, when the Sixers decided during the 2023 offseason not to sign Tyrese Maxey to a rookie scale extension, telegraphing their intent to maximize their 2024 cap room in the hopes of landing a star, it was a risky play.

While the 76ers could offer a top free agent the opportunity to team up with Maxey and star center Joel Embiid in Philadelphia, they wouldn’t have the ability to outbid that star’s incumbent team for the right to sign him. It’s entirely possible that each of this year’s top six or seven free agents could have re-signed with their previous clubs, putting the Sixers in a position where they’d have to decide whether to splurge on a couple second-tier free agents like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Miles Bridges or perhaps target a high-priced trade candidate like Brandon Ingram or Zach LaVine.

Fortunately for the Sixers and their fans, it didn’t play out that way. While four of the top five free agents on our top-50 list (including Maxey) remained with their current teams, Philadelphia was able to secure a commitment from the fifth one – Paul George – after the forward’s negotiations with the Clippers soured.

Like Embiid, George hasn’t been a paragon of health during his prime seasons, having missed time in both the regular season and playoffs due to various injuries over the years, so it’s not as if the four-year, maximum-salary deal the Clippers gave him is risk-free.

But few players in the NBA would have been better fits alongside Maxey and Embiid than George, who is essentially the ideal version of the three-and-D archetype that has become so popular in the league in the last decade. He can handle the toughest wing assignments on defense while also sharing ball-handling and scoring responsibilities on offense with the 76ers’ two other stars.

Maxey’s willingness to wait on his new contract shouldn’t be overlooked or undersold. Keeping his modest $13MM cap hold on the books at the start of free agency instead of having him on the cap for $35MM+ put the Sixers in position to open up maximum-salary cap room for George. It all worked out for Maxey in the end, as he parlayed a Most Improved Player award in 2023/24 into a five-year, maximum-salary deal.

Would he have gotten that same contract if he had torn his ACL on opening night last fall and missed the entire season? Maybe, but it’s worth remembering that it wasn’t just the Sixers who took a risk by going the cap-space route — Maxey could have insisted on long-term security last summer, but by betting on himself and the team, he eventually got his max deal and a new All-Star running mate.

After signing George and Maxey to $200MM+ free agent contracts, the Sixers later extended Embiid on a maximum-salary deal that could pay him nearly $300MM over the next five seasons. Despite his injury history, it was presumably an easy decision for the front office, considering Embiid is a perennial MVP finalist if he’s healthy.

Having made such a huge investment in their three stars, the 76ers didn’t have a ton of flexibility to add complementary pieces around them, but they cleverly used every dollar of their leftover cap room to sign Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond, both of whom should play significant roles. Martin was a valuable two-way contributor in Miami in recent years, while Drummond has been one of the league’s best backup centers and is capable of stepping into the starting lineup if and when Embiid misses time.

Most of the rest of the Sixers signings – including Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Kyle Lowry, Guerschon Yabusele, and second-round pick Adem Bona – were for the minimum. It’s unlikely that all of those players will become productive regular contributors, but the team did pretty well given its salary limitations.

Philadelphia also used its No. 16 overall pick to add rookie guard Jared McCain, its room exception to re-sign starting forward Kelly Oubre, and KJ Martin‘s Bird rights to re-sign him to a two-year, $16MM deal that’s only guaranteed for one season.

That price tag for Martin looks high on the surface, but it’s more about his value as a trade chip than what he’ll provide on the court. Outside of their three stars, no Sixers players are earning more than $8.15MM (Caleb Martin) in 2024/25, so having KJ Martin on a $7.98MM deal could make him a useful salary-matching piece in an in-season deal.

Up next

The Sixers are carrying 14 players on standard contracts, so they could add one more minimum-salary free agent to their roster before opening night if they don’t mind paying the accompanying tax penalty.

They’re approximately $4.6MM away from the second tax apron, but since they can’t take back more salary than they send out in a trade, they should be able to easily avoid surpassing that threshold during the season, even if they carry a 15th man.

It should be a fairly straightforward preseason in Philadelphia though, now that Embiid has signed his extension. Of the 14 players on standard deals, 13 have signed new contracts since July and the 14th (Ricky Council) is in the second year of his deal, so no one else is extension-eligible.

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Offseason Observations: Exhibit 10 Terms, Okoro, Current FAs, Stretch Provision

September 20th, 2024 at 5:36pm CST by Luke Adams

With the start of most NBA training camps just 11 days away (and even sooner than that for the Celtics and Nuggets), the 2024 offseason is nearing its end.

Before we put a bow on the summer of 2024, we have one more installment of our "Offseason Observations" to share today, following up on similar articles published in July and August.

Here are some of the under-the-radar cap- and CBA-related stories I'm keeping an eye on as teams around the league prepare for their media days and training camps.

The disparity between Exhibit 10 bonuses

As we've written many teams in recent weeks, when a player signs an Exhibit 10 contract with an NBA team, is waived before the regular season begins, and then spends at least 60 days with his club's G League affiliate, he's eligible to earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K.

We always clarify that those bonuses can be worth "up to" $77.5K because that's the maximum possible Exhibit 10 bonus in 2024/25 (up from $75K a year ago, having increased at the same rate as the salary cap). But not every player who signs an Exhibit 10 contract is able to negotiate that maximum bonus.

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Joel Embiid, Sixers Finalize Three-Year Max Extension

September 20th, 2024 at 7:05am CST by Luke Adams

Superstar center Joel Embiid has agreed to a three-year, maximum-salary contract extension with the Sixers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that the new deal, which begins in 2026/27, will include a player option on the final year.

The deal is official, per an announcement from the team.

“Philadelphia is home,” Embiid wrote in an Instagram post announcing the agreement. “I want to be here for the rest of my career. I love this community and everything you’ve given me and my family. There is a lot more work to do. You guys deserve a championship and I think we’re just getting started!”

“Joel has cemented himself as one of the greatest Sixers of all time and is well on his way to being one of the best players to ever play the game. We’re ecstatic that this extension keeps him and his family in Philadelphia for years to come,” team owner Josh Harris said in a statement of his own. “Joel is a great family man, leader, and person. He is an elite two-way player with a combination of size, strength, and athleticism that this league has rarely – if ever – seen. He is integral to this franchise’s quest for another NBA Championship, and we are honored that he continues to choose this organization as his NBA home.”

Based on current salary cap projections, Embiid’s three-year extension will be worth approximately $192.9MM. He’ll make a projected $59.5MM in 2026/27 and $64.3MM in ’27/28, with a $69.1MM player option for ’28/29. Those figures count on the cap increasing by the maximum allowable 10% in each of the next two seasons.

Taking into account the two years and $106.6MM left on Embiid’s current contract, he’s now on track to earn just shy of $300MM over the next five seasons. The big man’s previous deal included a player option for the ’26/27 season, but it’ll be replaced by the new contract.

After being plagued by foot issues that cost him two full seasons at the start of his NBA career, Embiid has become one of the league’s most dominant players, earning All-Star nods in each of the past seven years and All-NBA spots in five of those seasons.

The former No. 3 overall pick holds career averages of 27.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks in 31.9 minutes per game across 433 outings (all starts) and finished in the top two of three consecutive MVP votes from 2021-23, winning the award in ’23.

Embiid appeared headed for another MVP-caliber season in 2023/24 before a knee injury sidelined him for most of the second half and limited him to 39 games. The 30-year-old averaged a career-high 34.7 points per game with an elite .529/.388/.883 shooting line when healthy, then won an Olympic gold medal in Paris with Team USA this summer.

Embiid’s new deal makes him the fifth member of the NBA’s $500MM+ club, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN, who notes (via Twitter) that the Sixers star trails only LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and teammate Paul George in career earnings, based on their past and current contracts. Kevin Durant is the fifth player whose career salaries will exceed $500MM by the end of his current deal.

Embiid’s extension caps a huge offseason of spending for the 76ers, who also signed Tyrese Maxey to a five-year, $203.8MM contract and George to a four-year, $211.6MM deal in free agency. In total, Philadelphia’s three stars are owed approximately $715MM.

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Pre-Camp Roster Snapshot: Atlantic Division

September 19th, 2024 at 10:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the next week, Hoops Rumors will be taking a closer look at each NBA team’s current roster situation, evaluating which clubs still have some moves to make and which ones seem most prepared for training camp to begin.

This series is meant to provide a snapshot of each team’s roster at this time, so these articles won’t be updated in the coming weeks as more signings, trades, and/or cuts are made. You can follow our roster counts page to keep tabs on teams’ open spots as opening night nears.

We’re beginning our pre-camp Roster Snapshot series today with the Atlantic Division. Let’s dive in…

Boston Celtics

The Celtics are at their 21-man limit, so this could be the roster they take into training camp during the first week of October. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if the 14 players on guaranteed contracts and three on two-way deals are the ones who are on Boston’s opening night roster.

Outside of the usual shuffling in and out of Exhibit 10 players, there are two minor storylines to keep an eye on here. One, will Walker – who has 322 NBA regular season games under his belt – make the team as a 15th man? And two, what are the Celtics’ plans for Jay Scrubb?

Scrubb was set to start the 2023/24 season on a two-way contract with the Celtics before he tore his ACL, resulting in his release just ahead of opening night. A report this offseason indicated the team plans to bring him back on an Exhibit 10 contract once he’s fully recovered from his ACL surgery. If he shows he’s back to 100% health, could he be in the mix for a two-way spot?

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets have several Exhibit 10 agreements to finalize and a pair of two-way slots to fill. It’s possible the club will leave those two-way spots open during the preseason and allow their camp invitees to compete for them (of the presumed Exhibit 10 signees, only Hayes is ineligible for a two-way). They may also keep their eye out for intriguing targets cut by other teams ahead of opening night.

Johnson ($250K) and Wilson ($75K) each have modest partial guarantees for now, but those guarantees will increase to $700K and $325K, respectively, if they make the opening night roster. While Wilson is the safer bet of the two to survive the preseason cuts, it’s possible both players will open the season with the club.

New York Knicks

The Knicks are well above the luxury tax line and may not feel compelled to carry a full 15-man standard roster into the regular season, but Morris and Shamet are quality NBA veterans who deserve a look. I’d be a little surprised if both are waived at the end of the preseason.

While more minor moves could happen before camp tips off, the Knicks would be at their 21-man preseason roster limit if they simply finalize their reported deal with O’Connell.

Philadelphia 76ers

There shouldn’t be any surprises in Philadelphia ahead of training camp, though the team still has some breathing room below the second tax apron to add a 15th man to its projected standard roster, if it so chooses.

If the Sixers intend to carry a 14-man roster into the season, filling out the preseason roster will likely just be a matter of signing two more camp invitees to Exhibit 10 contracts to get to 21 players.

Toronto Raptors

As is the case with the Knicks and O’Connell, the Raptors could finalize their training camp roster by simply signing Guerrier to his reported Exhibit 10 contract, though that doesn’t necessarily have to happen before camp begins. If the goal is simply to secure Guerrier’s G League rights, he could be signed-and-waived at any time before opening night.

Shuttling Exhibit 10 players on and off the roster could allow the Raptors to bring in another veteran free agent to compete with Fernando for the final spot on the standard 15-man roster, though there have been no reports so far suggesting that’s the plan.

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