Ryan Broekhoff

Sixers Notes: Simmons, Horford, Milton, Broekhoff

Ben Simmons had missed the Sixers‘ last eight games due to a back injury and was projected to be sidelined indefinitely when the NBA suspended its season in March. However, the four-month layoff has paid off the former No. 1 pick, who confirmed this week that he’s fully healthy and ready to participate in the NBA’s restart, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes.

“I’m feeling better than I was when I started the season,” Simmons told reporters on Thursday. “But I’ve been working since I had the injury, working ’til now to prepare for whatever happens, wherever we go. So I’m feeling great, I’ve been rehabbing this whole time, so I’m feeling ready. And I’m feeling very comfortable.”

Some players, especially those with a history of injuries, have been apprehensive about participating in the NBA’s restart, given the brief ramp-up period to the eight seeding games and the playoffs. However, Simmons didn’t express any reservations about the league’s plan.

“Wherever my team is, I feel like it’s my responsibility to go down there and represent Philadelphia in the highest way possible, and I think this is the right way to do it,” Simmons said, per Bontemps. “If we’re safe down there, and I trust in what the NBA is doing, and they’re taking extreme precautions with this. So I feel like if we’re all going, I’m in. I’m with my teammates and I never would want them to go down and not expect to see me there. So I’m all-in with my team.”

Here’s more on the 76ers:

  • Head coach Brett Brown acknowledged on Wednesday that the offensive fit of his starting lineup – especially when Al Horford has been part of that group – has been “clunky.” However, as Paul Hudrick of NBC Sports Philadelphia details, Brown believes the group is “built for the playoffs” and will weigh potential roles for Horford and Shake Milton during the training camp period. “In a perfect world, you’d like to go into those eight (seeding) games and have some minor tweak and rotation changes as opposed to Game 5 and, ‘Oh, crap, we’ve got something that’s a little bit funky here,'” Brown said.
  • In a separate story for NBC Sports Philadelphia, Hudrick profiles DePaul forward Paul Reed, suggesting that he’s the sort of versatile prospect the Sixers should target with one of their second-round picks.
  • Ryan Broekhoff‘s wife has an auto-immune disease and the couple has a one-year-old son, but the veteran sharpshooter ultimately decided to join the Sixers for the NBA’s restart, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “We spoke to (76ers GM) Elton (Brand) and spoke to (Brown) and just wanted to get some more information of how the bubble would be down in Orlando, and if anything happens at home, what are my options to get back and take care of my family,” Broekhoff said. “… I think the opportunity in the end was too hard to pass up.”

Sixers Sign Ryan Broekhoff

JUNE 27: The signing is official, the Sixers announced on Twitter.

JUNE 26: The Sixers have reached an agreement to sign free agent swingman Ryan Broekhoff, agent Andy Shiffman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Broekhoff, who will turn 30 in August, signed with the Mavericks in the summer of 2018 and spent a season-and-a-half with the club, averaging 4.0 PPG and 1.8 RPG with a strong .403 3PT% in 59 total games (10.7 MPG). He was waived in February when Dallas signed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Since becoming a free agent, Broekhoff – who spent the first few years of his career with Besiktas in Turkey and Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia – has drawn interest from multiple international teams, including Anadolu Efes. However, it appears the veteran sharpshooter was prioritizing a potential return to the NBA, and now has the opportunity to join a playoff team for the summer restart.

The 76ers currently have 15 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal. Because Broekhoff has just two years of NBA experience, he can be signed into the team’s empty two-way slot, as noted by Rich Hofmann of The Athletic and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links)

Eastern Notes: Broekhoff, Young, Heat, Celtics

Ryan Broekhoff gives the Sixers an extra shooter at their disposal, Derek Bodner of The Athletic notes. Philadelphia reached an agreement with Broekhoff to fill out its roster in Orlando. Broekhoff averaged 40.3% on 3-point attempts while playing for the Mavericks, who waived him in February. However, Broekhoff’s one-dimensional game and defensive limitations make it unlikely he will play significant minutes, Bodner adds.

We have more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Hawks star guard Trae Young will sign with Klutch Sports, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Young was previously represented by Octagon. Omar Wilkes, who has been Young’s agent since the guard entered the league in 2018, recently left Octagon to become Klutch Sports’ head of basketball operations, Haynes notes. Young is eligible to sign a rookie scale extension after next season.
  • The Heat have closed their practice facility for player workouts until at least Monday in the aftermath of Derrick Jones Jr.‘s positive COVID-19 test, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Jones, whose positive test was revealed on Thursday, is eventually expected to rejoin the team for the league’s restart in Orlando. A Heat staff member has also tested positive, Jackson adds in a separate tweet.
  • The Celtics will not renew the contract of advance scout Gary Schmidt, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald tweets. Schmidt had scouted for Boston since the 2014/15 season.

Turkish Team “Strongly Interested” In Ryan Broekhoff

The next opportunity for former Maverick Ryan Broekhoff may come in Turkey, tweets Greek basketball writer George Zakkas (hat tip to Sportando). According to a source, Anadolu Efes is “strongly interested” in signing the 29-year-old shooting guard.

Broekhoff appeared in 17 games for Dallas this season before being waived in February when the team signed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Broekhoff averaged 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per night in limited playing time. He also got into 42 games for the Mavs as a rookie last season.

We passed along reports last month that Olympiacos in Greece and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel both had interest in signing Broekhoff. All these teams are currently on hiatus as they wait to see if their seasons will resume.

International Notes: Kalaitzakis, Broekhoff, Milutoniv, NBL

Euro guard Georgios Kalaitzakis has submitted paperwork to make himself eligible for the draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reports. Kalaitzakis is ranked as the No. 96 prospect in the ESPN Top 100. The native of Greece averaged 12.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 2.3 APG in 29 MPG for Nevezis in Lithuania this season. The 6’7” Kalaitzakis led the U20 European Championship in scoring last summer at 19.7 PPG.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Former Mavericks swingman Ryan Broekhoff has reportedly received an offer from Greece’s Olympiacos, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Israeli reporter Roi Cohen broke the news on Broekhoff, who was waived by Dallas in February. The 6’6″, 29-year-old Broekhoff appeared in 59 games during his two seasons with the Mavericks, including one start this season.
  • Spurs draft-and-stash prospect Nikola Milutinov is signing a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow, Carchia reports in another tweet. Barcelona also made a multi-year offer for the center, Carchia adds. The 7-footer, the 26th pick in the 2015 draft, averaged 10.3 PPG and 8.2 RPG in 24 games for Olympiacos this season.
  • NBL players in Australia have been asked by the league to take a 50% pay cut next season, Carchia reports. The league and team owners have also threatened to pull the players’ health insurance and career-ending injury insurance.

And-Ones: KG, Seattle, Free Agent Wings, Broekhoff

Speaking this week to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, newly-elected Hall-of-Famer Kevin Garnett said he’d love to play a part in bringing the NBA back to the city of Seattle.

“If I have a dream, I would say that I would love to be able to go and buy the Seattle SuperSonics and reactivate the Seattle Northwest and get NBA loving back going into that area,” Garnett told Reynolds. “I think it’s needed and it’s essential. Seattle was huge to our league. Not just Portland, but the whole northwest. I would love to be able to do that.”

Although Garnett earned nearly $344MM over the course of his 21-year NBA career, per Basketball-Reference, it’s not clear that he has the net worth required to be the majority owner of an NBA franchise.

Still, if the league eventually becomes open to the idea of an expansion team in Seattle, it’s not inconceivable that Garnett could get involved in an ownership group. Dwyane Wade has previously expressed a desire to get involved in such an endeavor as well.

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

  • In the first part of his breakdown of 2020’s free agent market for wings, Danny Leroux of The Athletic says Brandon Ingram is the most obvious candidate for a max-level deal, while Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Morris, Evan Fournier, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Malik Beasley are among the players who should be able to sign for more than the full mid-level.
  • Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines the most pressing salary cap issue facing each of the NBA’s 30 teams during the 2020 offseason.
  • Following a report from Sport5 (hat tip to Sportando) suggesting that Maccabi Tel Aviv may have interest in former Mavericks sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff, the EuroLeague club responded by shooting down the idea that it’s already targeting players for next season amidst the COVID-19 uncertainty. “It was published today that Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv is ‘working on the next season’ and ‘targeting/interested’ in players,” the team said in a tweet. “We are clarifying here that this is false. The club doesn’t do that nowadays.”

International Notes: Randle, Olympics, Broekhoff, Yabusele, More

The coronavirus outbreak continues to have an impact on the international basketball world, with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reporting that guard Chasson Randle is among the players affected by the Chinese Basketball Association’s hiatus.

Agent Darrell Comer tells Givony that Randle has twice tried to sign a 10-day contract with an NBA team since returning stateside last month. However, his club in Tianjian blocked him from receiving FIBA clearance in both cases, despite there being no official word yet on if or when the CBA will resume play this season.

“His payments are currently behind with no date provided of when he will receive salary owed,” Comer said of Randle. “He has been offered opportunities to sign 10-day contracts with NBA teams, but Tianjin has denied his FIBA clearance despite the fact that the 10-day contracts will expire before all rumored dates if the China season will resume.

“Chasson is not only being prevented from making income, but also from furthering his career as a NBA player. We are speaking to bring awareness to this unfair issue for Chasson, but also for the other talented players who are back from China and may experience similar issues soon.”

The coronavirus epidemic could also be bad news for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told Stephen Wade of The Associated Press that the IOC will likely have to make a decision by May on this summer’s games. Pound still anticipates the Olympics will move forward as planned, but if the IOC determines that the risk related to coronavirus is too high, “you’re probably looking at a cancellation” rather than a postponement, he said.

Here are more basketball-related notes from around the world:

  • After being waived two weeks ago by Dallas, sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff is drawing interest from EuroLeague team CSKA Moscow, a source tells Sportando. Before joining the Mavericks in 2018, Broekhoff spent several seasons with EuroCup club Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia.
  • Former Celtics first-rounder Guerschon Yabusele has returned to his home country of France, signing a new deal with ASVEL Villeurbanne, according to the team (hat tip to Sportando). It’s a rest-of-season contract for Yabusele, who played in 74 games for Boston between 2017-19.
  • Veteran guard Jordan Crawford, who has appeared in 281 NBA games, appears likely to join Brose Bamberg for the rest of the season, according to Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando. Crawford worked out for the German club earlier this month.
  • Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantu has announced the signing of former NBA swingman Rodney Purvis (hat tip to Sportando). Purvis, 26, appeared in 16 games for Orlando during the 2017/18 season.

Mavericks Sign Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Waive Ryan Broekhoff

FEBRUARY 11: The Mavericks have officially signed Kidd-Gilchrist and waived Broekhoff, the team announced today (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 10: Former Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will sign with the Mavericks, who will waive shooting guard Ryan Broekhoff to carve out roster space for their new addition.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon (Twitter link) first reported Kidd-Gilchrist’s contract agreement, while Marc Stein of the New York Times first reported that the two sides were nearing a deal and that Dallas would cut Broekhoff (Twitter links).

After Kidd-Gilchrist fell out of favor in Charlotte’s rotation and the team opted not to move his expiring contract, he agreed to a buyout in the final season of his four-year, $52MM contract. The former No. 2 overall pick appeared in only 12 games for the Hornets this year, after being a defensive staple in prior seasons. The Mavericks hope he can help flesh out their roster depth as they grapple with a wave of injuries.

The 6’6″, 29-year-old Broekhoff has appeared in 59 games during his two seasons with the Mavericks, including one start this season. Though seldom used (he’s averaging 10.7 minutes per game), Broekhoff is a career 40.3% long-range shooter on 2.4 looks a night, and connects on 81.5% of his free-throw attempts.

Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News tweets that Broekhoff is “universally loved” in Dallas’ locker room, but his expiring, minimum-salary contract made him the club’s most logical release candidate. He’ll clear waivers later this week if he goes unclaimed.

According to an earlier report, Kidd-Gilchrist surrendered $810,763 of his $13MM salary for 2019/20 in his buyout with Charlotte. He’ll make nearly that entire amount back on his new minimum-salary deal with Dallas.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mavericks Notes: MKG, RHJ, Porzingis, Broekhoff

The Mavericks are talking about trading for a combo forward by Thursday’s deadline and have “kicked tires” on both Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of the Hornets and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of the Raptors, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. He adds that discussions are still in the exploratory stage.

Both players have expiring contracts, but it would be much tougher to match salary for Kidd-Gilchrist, who is making $13MM this season. The second pick in the 2012 draft, he has spent his entire career in Charlotte, but his numbers have declined drastically in recent seasons. He has gotten into just 12 games this year and is averaging 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per night.

Hollis-Jefferson, who has a $2.5MM salary, has appeared in 38 games for Toronto, averaging 7.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG. He signed a one-year deal with the Raptors as a free agent in July.

There’s more Mavericks news to pass along:

  • Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the franchise-altering trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis from the Knicks, Townsend observes in a full story. Owner Mark Cuban was surprised by how quickly the deal came together, while coach Rick Carlisle says Porzingis has been doing a “great job” in a “transition year” after missing all of last season following a torn ACL in his left knee. After clashing with management in New York, Porzingis is much happier in Dallas. “This organization has treated me incredibly,” he said. “As family. Mark is unbelievable. And everybody who works here, it’s really high-level, high-class. It’s an honor to be part of this.”
  • The Mavericks are considering a stricter load management plan for Porzingis, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. He missed 10 straight games last month with soreness in his right knee.
  • Second-year shooting guard Ryan Broekhoff made the first start of his NBA career last night in Houston, Townsend relays in a separate story. Carlisle said parts of the starting lineup will be filled based on a “game-to-game situation,” but the decision was surprising because it was only Broekhoff’s second game back after being injured on December 29. “I was actually nervous,” he said. “I haven’t been nervous for a game in a long time, maybe since my first NBA game last year in Phoenix. There was a little nervous energy throughout the day. These things, you never know when they might come, so I just tried to put my best foot forward to help the team.”

Mavs Notes: Cauley-Stein, Broekhoff, Cash, Green

The Mavericks officially acquired Willie Cauley-Stein from the Warriors yesterday, but it’s not clear when he’ll start playing, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Cauley-Stein will report to the team today in Oklahoma City, but probably not in time for an afternoon practice. He may see a few minutes Monday against the Thunder or Tuesday against the Suns, but coach Rick Carlisle isn’t committing to either game.

“We’ll give him the crash course and try to simplify things for him initially, get him going and see where we are,” Carlisle said.

Forward Ryan Broekhoff could return tomorrow from a fractured left fibula, which lessens the need to use Cauley-Stein before he becomes familiar with the playbook. Carlisle said he spoke with his new center, who is excited to be joining the team.

“We think he’s a guy that has some really unique abilities,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to get him integrated and get him ready. He’s a rim-protector. He’s a rim-roller. His rebounding is good. We feel there’s areas that he can get better. I talked to him a little bit about those things. We’ll coach him hard, and with a lot of respect, and we’ll see where we can help his game go from here.”

There’s more from Dallas:

  • The Mavericks received an A-minus grade on the deal from Sam Quinn of CBS Sports, who notes that Cauley-Stein is an above-average pick-and-roll threat who will benefit from a chance to play alongside Luka Doncic. He adds that Cauley-Stein is a better rebounder than Dwight Powell, who was lost for the season with an Achilles injury this week.
  • Dallas received $800K in cash from the Thunder in a separate deal that sent Isaiah Roby to Oklahoma City in exchange for Justin Patton, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Patton was waived to open a roster spot for Cauley-Stein.
  • Danny Green talked to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post podcast this week about the Mavericks’ pursuit of him in free agency over the summer. Green signed a two-year, $30MM deal with the Lakers, but said if L.A. would have used that money to sign Kawhi Leonard, then Dallas would have been his next choice.