Joel Embiid Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Sign K.J. McDaniels, Jerami Grant

October 1st, 2014 at 9:47am CST by Chuck Myron

9:47am: McDaniels will make the minimum salary this year, as Wojnarowski reveals in his full story, one that suggests that the small forward simply signed the required tender that teams must make in order to retain the rights to their second-round picks. He rejected a long-term offer with terms similar to what Grant has in his contract, as agent Mark Bartelstein explains to Wojnarowski.

“The 76ers have a philosophy that they’re adhering to, and we totally respect that, but it doesn’t fit for K.J. and us,” Bartelstein said. “I just totally disagree with the idea of doing a four-year deal that includes a structure of two non-guaranteed years. We think K.J. is going to be a good player, and it came down to doing a one-year deal and letting the market determine his value. There’s no hard feelings. The Sixers’ philosophy has worked for them. It just doesn’t work for us.”

WEDNESDAY, 8:51am: McDaniels is getting a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, setting himself up for restricted free agency next summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 9:10pm: McDaniels hasn’t signed his contract as of this afternoon and didn’t report to training camp Tuesday, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey implies that McDaniels isn’t happy with the team’s offer, but adds that the Sixers do expect him to sign it soon.

MONDAY, 4:22pm: The Sixers have signed K.J. McDaniels and Jerami Grant, two of the team’s second-round picks from June, the team acknowledged as it released its training camp roster via press release. The team has plenty of cap space, but it’s not immediately clear how much of it goes to McDaniels and Grant, nor is it known whether their deals are guaranteed. The roster also serves as an official announcement of previously reported deals with No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid, Ronald Roberts Jr. and JaKarr Sampson. Absent from the roster are Malcolm Lee, Drew Gordon and Pierre Jackson, whom offseason reports indicated the Sixers had agreed to sign, so presumably those deals are off.

McDaniels, the 32nd overall pick, is a small forward who’s a heady player with a strong motor who seems poised to outperform his draft position, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote when he examined the former Clemson Tiger’s prospect profile. Grant, a combo forward from Syracuse, carries plenty of athleticism but plenty of unknowns, too, though he appears to be a strong value as a second-rounder, as Eddie’s profile of the No. 39 overall pick reads. Vasilije Micic and Jordan McRae, the team’s other second-round picks, are playing overseas, as our list of draft pick signings shows.

Philadelphia is bringing 20 players to camp, though only eight are known to have fully guaranteed salary. Roberts, Sampson and Jarvis Varnado have partially guaranteed deals, but it’s seemingly an otherwise wide-open competition for opening-night roster spots.

Sixers Sign Joel Embiid

August 28th, 2014 at 8:48am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The team finally acknowledged the signing, including Embiid on its preseason roster.

AUGUST 28TH: The Sixers still haven’t made an official announcement, but the appearance of the move on the RealGM transactions log provides further confirmation that the signing has taken place.

AUGUST 26TH: No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid has signed his rookie scale contract with the Sixers, according to his verified Twitter account. The team has yet to make an official announcement, but it appears as though the last remaining first-round pick from this June who had yet to sign with his NBA team or agree to play elsewhere has inked his deal. He’ll make nearly $3.69MM, as our table of salaries for this year’s first-rounders shows.

Embiid was a strong contender, if not the front-runner, to become the No. 1 overall pick until he suffered a broken foot shortly before the draft. The most recent estimate has him out anywhere from between November and February, though it appears as though he’s in line to see action at some point this season for Philadelphia. A back injury that forced him to miss the final six games of his college career at Kansas sparked concern for much of the spring, but ultimately that didn’t seem to depress his draft stock nearly as much as his foot did.

Whenever he’s healthy enough to play, he’ll look to build upon last season’s breakout campaign, one in which he came to join college teammate Andrew Wiggins, a far more heralded prospect coming out of high school, and Jabari Parker as contenders for the top pick. The 7’0″ center only began playing basketball in 2011, so his skills are raw, but with a game that shows shades of Hakeem Olajuwon, his upside is vast, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors examined this past April in his Prospect Profile of Embiid.

He’ll join fellow Cameroonian native and mentor Luc Mbah a Moute on the Sixers, and Mbah a Moute’s close ties to Embiid appeared to be one of the reasons Philadelphia acquired the veteran forward as part of its participation in the Kevin Love trade. The 20-year-old Embiid won’t encounter much in the way of immediate expectations in Philadelphia, which is in a long-term rebuilding effort, and while Embiid is a centerpiece of that project, the Sixers appear willing to wait for his skills to more fully develop.

The Sixers had been carrying 16 players after Tuesday’s acquisition of Hasheem Thabeet and before Embiid’s signing, though Philadelphia appears poised to waive Thabeet. Embiid is one of just eight players with fully guaranteed deals on Philadelphia’s roster.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Salary Floor, Richardson

August 27th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Sixers GM Sam Hinkie expressed optimism Tuesday about what Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved can contribute, but he seemed most excited about acquiring the Heat’s protected 2015 first-round draft pick, observes Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers wound up with those assets in the Kevin Love trade, though it appears like they’ll simply net cash from Tuesday’s Hasheem Thabeet swap once they waive Thabeet, as expected. In any case, Philadelphia has been a hub of activity the past few days, so we’ll round up the latest here:

Hinkie also said Tuesday that he’s not sure whether Joel Embiid will play this season, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News writes. The GM had said in June that the timetable for Embiid’s recovery from a broken foot was five to eight months. The team has yet to officially announce the signing of Embiid, though the No. 3 pick from this past June indicated Tuesday on Twitter that he had inked his deal, posting a photo of what appeared to be his signed contract.
The Sixers aren’t concerned about reaching the NBA’s minimum team salary, Hinkie said, as Cooney notes. That’s not surprising, since the penalty for any club that fails to meet the $56.759MM salary floor is only that the team must distribute the difference between that figure and its team salary among the players on the roster.
In Cooney’s estimation, Jason Richardson and Arnett Moultrie are more likely to reach buyout deals with the team than remain for the regular season.

And-Ones: Embiid, Draft, Trade Exceptions

June 27th, 2014 at 11:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Nuggets absorbed Arron Afflalo into Andre Iguodala‘s $9,868,632 trade exception in Thursday’s trade with the Magic, reducing its value to $2,368,632. Still, the deal lets them make a new exception worth $1,422,720, equivalent to Evan Fournier‘s salary, and offloading Anthony Randolph in Thursday’s pick swap with the Bulls allows the Nuggets to create another new trade exception worth $1.75MM.

Eastern Notes: Embiid, Afflalo, Rondo

June 26th, 2014 at 2:25pm CST by Zachary Links

Joel Embiid is seriously in play for three spots in the top part of the lottery, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The 76ers at No. 3, Celtics at No. 6, and the Lakers at No. 7 are all giving serious thought to taking the KU center. Here’s more out of the East..

The Sixers aren’t pursuing deals with the Bucks for their No. 2 pick, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. That could be an indication that they believe the Cavs are planning to take Andrew Wiggins No. 1 overall.
The week before the Pistons fired Maurice Cheeks, they were looking to acquire Arron Afflalo, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Free Press. Of course, the Magic agreed to trade Afflalo to the Nuggets this morning.
The Magic‘s continuous losing deeply bothered Afflalo, but Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (on Twitter) hears that he and his agent did not request a trade.
Rajon Rondo‘s name has once again popped up in trade rumors, but a source close to the situation tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that the guard has not been informed of any change of plans when it comes to the Celtics‘ future.
Even though the Afflalo trade freed up a lot of money for the Magic, Robbins (on Twitter) still doesn’t expect them to make a major splash in free agency.
Jameer Nelson should draw interest from teams looking to shed salary for free agency, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
In today’s mailbag, a reader asks Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel if it’s LeBron James or Pat Riley making the personnel decisions for the Heat.
The Knicks could flip the newly-acquired Shane Larkin for a first-round choice, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.

Draft Notes: Cavs, Parker, Wiggins, Embiid

June 25th, 2014 at 11:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert wants the team to draft Andrew Wiggins first overall, but the front office prefers Jabari Parker, report Jeff Goodman and Chad Ford of ESPN.com. That’s somewhat surprising, considering that Parker is seemingly the better of the two for Gilbert’s desire to win now. It’s unclear if Gilbert will let GM David Griffin and company take Parker, but after letting his executives make the call on Anthony Bennett at No. 1 last year, Gilbert will at least have a “stronger voice” this time around, Ford tweets. Here’s more on the eve of the draft:

Andrew Wiggins wants to play for the Sixers, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Sixers would take Wiggins at No. 1 if they were to move up, but the Bucks, Magic, Jazz, and Celtics would all select Jabari Parker if they wound up at the top of the draft, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
Multiple teams are trying to buy copies of Joel Embiid‘s medical records, a source tells Jake Fischer of The Boston Globe. Other sources tell Fischer that the buying of draftees’ medical records is common practice. (Twitter links)
James Young says his workout with the Sixers went well, and gets the sense that he could be selected by Philadelphia with the No. 10 pick, tweets Pompey.
Julius Randle passed on a second workout with the Celtics, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Marcus Smart did perform a second workout with the Celtics, and also worked out for the Magic a second time, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders,
Zach LaVine tells Andrew Perna of RealGM he has worked out for every team holding picks six through 17 (Twitter link). The Sixers, Magic, and Bulls are teams in that range that had not been linked to a workout with LaVine previously.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo worked out for the Knicks, tweets Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Knicks acquired two second round picks earlier today.
Bogdan Bogdanovic has come stateside to work out for the Spurs and Clippers, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress tweets that the Serbian wing is gaining steam as a potential pick late in the first round.
Alec Brown has worked out for the Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Clippers, Knicks, Sixers, and Raptors, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Tim Bontemps of The New York Post thinks it’s likely that the Nets can pick up a second round pick, and opines that they could even make their way into the late first round, where multiple teams would like to trade out of.

Earlier updates

Dan Gilbert tweeted out his insistence that he and the Cavs front office are not split (hat tip to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel).
An opposing GM told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that the Cavs are entertaining “everything,” because they are in the driver’s seat (Twitter link).
It’s still unknown if Dante Exum will work out for the Cavs at their request, but Andy Katz of ESPN.com reports that the guard is unlikely to cooperate without an assurance that there is a deal in place for Cleveland to move down and select him.
The Hornets have shown sporadic interest in dealing away their No. 24 pick, but those talks have cooled recently, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
The Celtics face tough odds of moving up in the draft because “lots” of other teams with better players to offer are trying to do the same, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
One such team could be the Kings, who sources tell Ken Berger of CSBSports.com are trying to move up from No. 8 to have a chance at landing Joel Embiid.
Rival GMs believe that Nuggets GM Tim Connelly is in “deal-making mode” with Denver’s No. 11 pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets have been reportedly shopping the pick for some time now.
Noah Vonleh is expected to be selected first of the power forward grouping including Vonleh, Aaron Gordon, and Julius Randle, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Gordon is not expected to drop any lower than the eighth selection, per Spears’ source.
Nets GM Billy King told Rod Boone of Newsday that the asking price to acquire a first round draft pick is likely too high for Brooklyn, and that a second round pick seems more possible (Twitter link).
Jusuf Nurkic has a buyout to leave his international club and join the NBA this season, tweets Wojnarowski. There was some confusion as to Nurkic’s willingness and ability to join an NBA team immediately before this revelation, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Joel Embiid is in “strong consideration” for the Sixers at No. 3, and it’s highly unlikely he slides past the Lakers at No. 7, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). The Sixers have obtained Embiid’s medical information, as Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com reports.
The NBA buyout in the extension that Walter Tavares signed with his Spanish team is $600K, agent Andy Miller tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, and that’s precisely the amount NBA teams can pay without it counting against the cap. There were representatives from 11 NBA teams at a private workout Tavares held on Tuesday, and Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and executives from the Knicks and Nets were among them, Zagoria reports. Zagoria also adds the Spurs to the list of teams that have brought the 22-year-old center in for an audition.
Fellow European prospect Vasilije Micic prefers to stay overseas regardless of whether he’s drafted on Thursday, as he told Rigas Dardalis of Eurohoops.net.
The Hawks were the last of a dozen teams to work out Zach LaVine, observes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
Andre Dawkins auditioned for the Kings, as Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report notes within his broader look at the draft. Dawkins tells Zwerling that the Cavs, Pistons and Wizards have expressed interest in him.
Jordan Adams wasn’t able to get to Memphis in time as the Grizzlies scrambled to put together a last-minute audition, so Michael Dixon is taking his place in the four-man workout group, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.

Celtics Pursuing No. 1 Pick

June 25th, 2014 at 7:55am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 7:55am: Boston has spoken with all five teams picking ahead of them in Thursday’s draft, the Boston Herald reports, adding that the C’s have also had discussions with clubs lower in the order.

TUESDAY, 4:44pm: The Celtics have engaged the Cavs in talks about the No. 1 pick, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Boston is the latest team to jump into discussions regarding the top draft choice with Cleveland, which is reportedly also having conversations with the Magic, Jazz, Sixers and Timberwolves. Cleveland appears to prefer Orlando’s offer, though it appears the market is continuing to develop. No deal involving the Celtics is imminent, according to Blakely.

Multiple sources tell Blakely that the Celtics would lean toward Andrew Wiggins if they acquired the top pick. They’d take Jabari Parker if they decide against Wiggins, Blakely adds. Boston has interest in Joel Embiid, and while the C’s would consider moving up to take him if necessary, it’s unlikely that he would be the choice at No. 1, Blakely writes.

It’s unclear exactly what the Celtics would give up for the top pick, though their pick at No. 6 has seemingly been up for grabs the past several weeks as Danny Ainge seeks a splashy move to impress Rajon Rondo, who can hit free agency next year. The Celtics are seeking to put together a package that would entice the Wolves, who seemingly haven’t been receptive to Boston’s entreaties for Kevin Love.

Draft Notes: Payton, Embiid, Knicks

June 24th, 2014 at 11:12pm CST by Ryan Raroque

In Jeff Goodman’s latest mock draft for ESPN (Insiders only), Elfrid Payton gets selected by the Timberwolves at No. 13. In response to that projection, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN said that Minnesota doesn’t have any interest in drafting the former Louisiana Lafayette guard with that pick. It probably won’t matter anyway, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe hears that Payton has been greatly impressive in workouts and won’t slip past the top 10 on draft night (Twitter links).

With that aside, we’ll keep tabs on this evening’s draft-related news here:

Add Sweden’s Viktor Gaddefors to the list of players that Memphis is bringing in for a second workout on Wednesday, notes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.
The Hornets appear primed to add at least one big man with either the 24th or 45th pick in this year’s draft, and Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer lists Mitch McGary and Johnny O’Bryant as potential targets.
Former Florida big man Patric Young is on Phil Jackson’s draft wish list, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman also points out that the Knicks worked out Jahii Carson recently.
Following up Andy Katz’s earlier ESPN report that the Kings have three deals in place regarding their No. 8 pick, ESPN’s Marc Stein identified the Celtics, Suns, and 76ers as the potential trading partners.

Earlier updates:

The Pelicans are making a concerted effort to acquire a first-round pick, tweets NBA.com’s David Aldridge.
According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, Joel Embiid is strongly in play for the 76ers at No. 3 and the Magic at No. 4; the worst-case scenario is that Embiid won’t fall past the Kings at No. 8 (Twitter link).
The Knicks remain confident that they’ll land a first-round pick and/or a second-round pick in Thursday’s draft, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
The Pistons are without a first-round pick this year, but team president/head coach Stan Van Gundy says that one team picking between No. 26 and No. 30 is open to shedding their pick for the best offer. “There’s one team that’s saying “give us your best deal for (our) pick” (Twitter link via Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News).
The Bucks made an unsuccessful attempt to bring in Cleanthony Early for a workout, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times.
In another piece, Woelfel notes that the Spurs, Pacers, and Pistons are among the list of teams that brought second-round hopeful Jamil Wilson in for a workout.
The Grizzlies are trying to put together a last minute workout for Glenn Robinson III, Jordan Adams, Joe Harris, and Geron Johnson tomorrow, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.
Former Duke swingman Rodney Hood participated in a second workout for the Suns, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

Mannix’s Latest: Bradley, Cavs, Magic

June 24th, 2014 at 8:55pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Avery Bradley arguably had the most impressive NBA season of his career to date, averaging 14.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG, and 39.5% from three-point range. With this in mind, rival executives tell Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated that the 23-year-old guard could land a contract this summer that pays in the range of $7MM-$9MM annually, which could influence the Celtics to consider drafting some insurance for their backcourt this upcoming Thursday.

Below, you can find more interesting tidbits that Mannix passes along in his latest mock draft:

League sources say that the Cavaliers are weighing three options: Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Dante Exum. Mannix notes that Exum is a wild card; if Cleveland ultimately walked away with Exum on draft night, I think it’d be plausible to imagine that they’d trade down to select him.
Magic GM Rob Hennigan will not be inclined to draft someone who isn’t ready to play right away, which suggests that Joel Embiid may be out of the question with their No. 4 pick.
Two rival executives say that the Kings have been actively shopping their No. 8 pick.
The Bulls continue to shop their two first round picks – No. 16 and 19, respectively – hoping to land either future first rounders or the chance to move up in this year’s draft. Trading those picks for future selections would aid in Chicago’s attempt to clear cap space to make a run at Carmelo Anthony in free agency this summer.
The Rockets have fielded offers for their No. 25 pick. With their sights set on keeping enough salary cap space clear for a run at Carmelo or LeBron James, Mannix thinks that drafting and keeping an international player overseas next season would make sense if Houston decided to retain their selection.

Bucks GM On Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Owners

June 24th, 2014 at 3:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Bucks GM John Hammond‘s job appears safe only through Thursday’s draft, but that didn’t stop him from talking plenty about the team’s future in a predraft press conference today. Earlier we noted Hammond’s comments about the notion of trading the No. 2 pick, as Hammond said he’s listening to proposals but wouldn’t give up the selection unless a team offered “something very special” in return. Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel rounds up a litany of quotes from Hammond, and while his piece is a must-read for Bucks fans and fans of teams with a top-five pick, we’ll share a few highlights here:

On whether the Bucks have narrowed their options to Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, as co-owner Marc Lasry seemed to indicate this week:

“I don’t think it’s fair to say that right now. I think we have to still keep all of our options open. I think this is more than a two-man draft and I think it’s going to prove to be that. It was talked about being a three-man draft before Joe [Joel Embiid] got hurt and I think that’s still the case. I think it was more than a three-man draft at that time and I think it’s more than a two-man draft today.”

On whether teams are smarter to draft Joel Embiid or to avoid him due to his injury:

“I think the answer is yes to both of those. Yes, it would behoove a team to take him and store him away, but I’m sure there is some concern with the health. But, look, I don’t expect Joel to drop too far in this draft. I think he’s still a guy that we need to have on our board to a certain extent. He’s a great talent and you talk about these sort of things like three to five years from now, who’s going to be the best guy in this draft? Time will tell. He still has to be in that discussion. So you can see something happening, a team taking him and knowing we have a great asset moving forward. … I think he’s tempting for anyone in this draft, including us.”

On trading up for another first-rounder toward the back of the round:

“We’ll have discussions with teams. We’re having those discussions with teams right now. I wouldn’t rule that possibility out, but we’ll see how that goes.”

On the different approach the new owners are taking:

“It’s just philosophical. The Senator [Herb Kohl], what he did for this organization and for this city, people will never forget and thank him forever for that. But you know there is a little difference here and the difference is more of a long-term look in the new ownership’s view. It’s something we’re moving forward with.”