The Philadelphia 76ers will waive Ryan Broekhoff and Derrick Walton Jr.
The 2020-21 NBA season is inching closer by the day and that means it is time for teams to make those tough decisions to cut players and get the roster down to the maximum of 15 plus the two two-way guys.
That means those guys in training camp on non-guaranteed and partially guaranteed deals are the first ones to be looked at.
The Philadelphia 76ers signed Ryan Broekhoff and Derrick Walton Jr. to non-guaranteed deals before training camp began in order to get more bodies into camp. On Monday, the Sixers waived the two of them ahead of their first preseason game on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics.
The #Sixers are waiving Derrick Walton Jr. and Ryan Broekhoff, according to a source.
What this means for the rest of the roster is that Justin Anderson probably has the inside track now to make the final cut. As for Broekhoff and Walton Jr., there is still the possibility of catching on with the team’s G League affiliate. They both have NBA experience so there will be an opportunity elsewhere.
The Philadelphia 76ers will sign shooter Ryan Broekhoff to a deal ahead of training camp.
The Philadelphia 76ers continue to beef up their shooting department. After struggling so much to shoot the ball and space the floor in the 2019-20 season, they now have plenty of shooters they can call upon to help Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid operate on offense.
After making big trades for Danny Green and Seth Curry on draft night, the team then selected Isaiah Joe in Round 2. To add to it, the Sixers added another shooter on Tuesday who should be a familiar face for Sixers fans.
The team will sign Ryan Broekhoff to a deal ahead of training camp on Dec. 1. Philadelphia had signed Broekhoff to an exhibit 10 contract before the bubble over the summer, but he did not end up playing after his wife tested positive for COVID-19.
Free agent F Ryan Broekhoff has agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, agent Andy Shiffman of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.
Broekhoff has spent the first two seasons of his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks where he shot 40.3% from deep. Of his 3.5 field goal attempts in the 2019-20 season, 3.0 of them were from deep so he is a guy who focuses a lot on the shooting aspect of the game which is exactly what this team needs. [lawrence-related id=39457,39454,39430]
Philadelphia 76ers shooter Ryan Broekhoff reveals his wife has tested positive for coronavirus.
The Philadelphia 76ers will be missing one of their most recent acquisitions to begin their Orlando bubble experience. After signing Australian shooter Ryan Broekhoff to a substitute deal recently in order to add more shooting, the 40.3% career 3-point shooter revealed some troubling news on Sunday.
Broekhoff revealed on Twitter that his wife has tested positive for COVID-19 and that he feels the need to stay at home with his family. He did add that his wife is at risk for the virus and they have a young son. The Sixers have shown a lot of support for him as well.
In a time such as this one, it can be tough to focus on basketball while a family member is having to go through having this virus. There’s a chance that Broekhoff could join the Sixers at another time, but for now, his focus should definitely be with his wife and his son. The Sixers can wait for now.
Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz knows he will have to battle with Ryan Broekhoff for minutes.
The Philadelphia 76ers got themselves some insurance for their resumption of the 2019-20 season down in Orlando when they signed Ryan Broekhoff to a substitute deal under the new NBA rules for the resumption. He provides exactly what Philadelphia needs at the moment and that’s shooting as he’s a career 40.3% shooter from deep in the NBA.
Furkan Korkmaz, the resident shooter on the roster, is happy to see a guy like Broekhoff with the team. Broekhoff spent some time playing for the Turkish team Besiktas so Korkmaz is familiar with him as a person.
“I’ve known Ryan for a long time because he was playing in Turkey,” Korkmaz said. “I know he’s a good guy. About the basketball stuff, this is a team decision so when he comes in, we’ll just respect him and then we just say ‘Welcome to Ryan’.”
Broekhoff is not guaranteed any minutes. He will have to compete with guys like Korkmaz, Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, and others to try and get on the court. Korkmaz is all too familiar with having to fight for minutes on this Sixers team.
“On the court, we will let him know that there’s a big fight to get the jersey, get the minutes,” he added. “We all know about it so who’s going to be in better shape will get the jersey. I’m also in the race, we all know that. It’s not like ‘this is your 30 minutes, just go out there and play’. It will never happen like that. I’m also a guy who knows that real well.”
At the end of the day, the Sixers will need a lot of contributions from everybody in order to win this championship that they desire. While Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid will lead the way, they will need the shooting of Korkmaz and Broekhoff to make a difference on offense.
“We all know we should just say ‘welcome to Ryan’,” Korkmaz finished with. “He’s a part of our team right now and we will go to Orlando as a team together.” [lawrence-related id=34254,34246,34240]
Philadelphia 76ers guard Ryan Broekhoff blasts the criticism that Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons receive.
The biggest criticism surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers in recent years has been this idea that Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid cannot co-exist and win together. The idea is fueled by the fact that their play styles are much different as Embiid likes to play slower and in the post while Simmons likes to run, run, run every chance that he gets.
New addition Ryan Broekhoff says that the idea is completely wrong and he wants everybody to look back at the success that the two of them have had so far.
“That duo’s tough,” he explained. “You don’t win all the game that they have been winning if they can’t play together. I think that’s being overhyped and I definitely believe they can play together and they complement each other. Surrounding them with shooting and guys who can create shots and make open shots just evens out what their tendencies may be lacking.
I think that’s kind of nonsense.”
Ryan Broekhoff says the notion that Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can’t play together is “nonsense” #Sixers
The idea that these two cannot win at the NBA level is a bit overblown. Former teammate T.J. McConnell opened up on the same critiques and he echoed the same sentiments. Simmons and Embiid are two of the top players in the game and they just need a clean bill of health and the right pieces around them to be sure that they accomplish their goal of bringing a title to Philadelphia. [lawrence-related id=33840,33832,33823]
New Philadelphia 76ers guard Ryan Broekhoff opens up on his relationship with Brett Brown and the expected role.
When the Philadelphia 76ers brought in Ryan Broekhoff on a substitute deal, they knew they were getting a guy who could really shoot the lights out. The Sixers are a team in need of some shooting and he is a career 40.3% shooter from deep in two NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.
What some may not know is that Broekhoff already has a relationship with coach Brett Brown due to their team together in Australia. Broekhoff then opened up on a funny story about Brown actually cutting home from the Olympic team in 2001.
“I do remember he cut me from the 2012 Olympic squad so that’s one thing that I can joke about now,” he said with a laugh. “Especially now with him being announced as the national team head coach again. We’ve had a few conversations and I see this as a great way to see up close and personal and get some extra time to learn his philosophies and how things may work not only with the Sixers, but with the national team as well.”
Broekhoff will be joining a Sixers team that is deep at the wing positions and there is no guarantee that he will be playing when the season does resume for the Sixers, but at the end of the day, he will be a solid addition to this team moving forward.
“I was shocked that he agreed to come,” said Brown. “First of all, you know I’ve known him. I recruited I brought him into the Australian team when I was the national coach of Australia pre the London Olympic Games so I’ve known Ryan forever, and to mislead him about hey there’s lots of opportunity here, that’s not true and I told him that you know you’ve got what six people we all can look at each other and say well what about Matisse (Thybulle) and Glenn Robinson and Furkan (Korkmaz) and Alec Burks and you know you can go on and on and on this isn’t an opportunity that it’s clear.”
Broekhoff understands the opportunity to play may not be there, but he is still grateful for the opportunity to play for the Sixers.
“I think the opportunity, in the end, was going to be too hard to pass up,” he explained. “A chance to work with coach Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers and have the opportunity to go into what’s going to be a very unique environment down in Orlando, I still feel like I’m on the cusp of finding somewhere steady in the NBA and hopefully that will be Philly.”
The team will head down to Orlando on July 9 to continue preparation for the season resumption which for them will be on August 1 against the Indiana Pacers. [lawrence-related id=33832,33823,33813]
The NBA will allow teams to sign a replacement player if there’s an injury, a positive COVID-19 test or a player who chooses to sit out.
As the NBA prepares to resume the 2019-20 season in July, more details about the league’s plan are coming to light. In the event of an injury or a positive COVID-19 test during training camp or the regular season, teams will be able to sign replacement players from the free-agent pool.
The NBA will allow each team to bring 17 players (including their two-way guys) to Disney’s Wide World of Sports. There won’t be a limit on how many replacement players a team can sign, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Once the playoffs start on August 17, teams won’t be able to add any replacement players.
Every night, players will be tested for COVID-19; if a player tests positive, they must self-quarantine for 10-14 days while their team continues playing.
Not only will replacement players be necessary in the event of positive tests, they also could be called upon if a player is injured. Most teams will arrive in Orlando healthier than usual at this point in the season thanks to the four-month break, but a number of trainers and players have expressed concern that there could be more injuries than usual when the season resumes. After all, players have been working out on their own since mid-March and it’s hard to mimic game movements and intensity while training alone. Ramping back up slowly with a training camp (and potentially two or three exhibition games) should help, but there’s still increased injury risk.
Because this is an unprecedented situation, people around the NBA have no idea how teams will approach this transaction window and how many replacement players will be signed.
“I’m not sure if teams will rush to sign guys,” an agent said. “NBA rosters are already the biggest of any major sport in terms of the ratio of players on the roster to players on the court/field,” the agent explained. “In the NBA, it’s 15:5 (or 3:1) whereas it’s 25:9 (or 2.8:1) in MLB and 53:22 (or 2.4:1) in the NFL. And that doesn’t even include two-way players. I’m sure every team is aware of all the available G League guys and free agents. But in the playoffs, most rotations shrink to nine or 10 guys anyway. So, if you have 15 players, you should have five extra guys.”
“I’m curious to see if teams will sign free agents,” one Western Conference executive added. “I have no idea what will happen. At the end of the day, we’re just talking about a 15th man most likely, right?”
One Eastern Conference general manager pointed out that some teams may not consider signing replacement players at all, even if there is an injury or a positive COVID-19 test. Since a replacement player would have to quarantine for 10-14 days before playing, the team’s injured or sick player may be close to returning by the time the replacement player is finally able to take the court.
“I think as long as a team doesn’t have multiple players who get sick at the same time, they won’t sign anyone,” the general manager said. “I think most teams will just wait for their sick player to return.”
Some NBA teams with an open roster spot may decide to sign a free agent prior to arriving in Orlando rather than waiting until an injury or positive test occurs to address their depth. Technically, this player wouldn’t be a “replacement player,” but he’d be stashed on their roster in case of emergency. This would allow the player to go through training camp with the team as well as the initial quarantine period in Orlando. Then, if there is an injury or positive test, he would be able to play right away rather than having to quarantine for 10-14 days upon arrival like a replacement player would have to do.
Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about how some players may choose not to play when the season resumes in Orlando. In recent weeks, a number of executives brought up this possibility and openly wondered what would happen if their players sit out because they didn’t want to be in the bubble for months and risk their health. Now, some players are also concerned that resuming play would shift the public’s focus away from the Black Lives Matter movement.
While it’s possible that enough NBA players speaking up would force the NBPA to back out of the plan to resume play, it seems more likely that the NBA will just allow each player to make their own decision when it comes to participating. If a player chooses to sit out, their team will resume play without them. These players wouldn’t face any consequences (aside from not being paid) and NBA teams would be allowed to sign a replacement player to take their place, according to a recent article by Wojnarowski.
There’s also some concern that players on fringe playoff teams will opt to play, but then want to leave the bubble or sit out as soon as their team is mathematically eliminated from the postseason. Players won’t want to put their health at risk and stay in the bubble if they aren’t playing for something. Some players (such as Damian Lillard) have already said that they wouldn’t risk their health to participate in meaningless games, and who could blame them?
“I feel like the eighth seed and the ninth seed could partially be determined by whose schedule sets them up against teams who are ‘tanking’ at the end,” said one Western Conference executive.
DeMarcus Cousins is one of the free agents who’s eligible to be signed. (Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)
Interestingly, not all free agents are eligible to be signed as replacement players.
In order to be eligible, a player had to be on an NBA or G League roster this season or last season. Players who were overseas as of March 11, 2020 (when the NBA season was suspended) are not eligible to be signed, which rules out some notable free agents such as Lance Stephenson, Donatas Motiejunas, Greg Monroe and Miles Plumlee. If a player started the season overseas but got a FIBA clearance before March 11, they are eligible to be signed as long as they were on an NBA or G League roster in 2019-20 or 2018-19 (like Willie Reed, for example, who was in Greece to start the season but then got his FIBA clearance and signed with a G League team).
There are plenty of of notable free agents and former G League players who are eligible to be signed including DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison, Jamal Crawford, Iman Shumpert, JR Smith, Nik Stauskas, Kenneth Faried, Tyler Zeller, Jerian Grant, Corey Brewer, Tyler Johnson, Jodie Meeks, Michael Beasley, Nick Young, Trey Burke, Allen Crabbe, Jordan Bell, Justin Anderson, Tim Frazier, Tyrone Wallace, Ivan Rabb, Jarrod Uthoff, Amile Jefferson, Jonah Bolden, Tyler Ennis, Josh Magette, JP Macura, Ryan Broekhoff and Yante Maten among others.
While it’ll be interesting to see how the 22 NBA teams in the bubble utilize the replacement players, the eight teams who aren’t resuming play will be allowed to sign players during this transaction window too. Don’t be surprised if some of these teams take advantage of this opportunity to add a free agent and acquire their Bird rights.
“I would be on the lookout for a smart non-bubble team to add someone during the transaction window,” one NBA agent said. “Any team can sign guys from that same pool of talent and, I assume, pay guys the same pro-rated amount.”
In Wojnarowski’s article about replacement players, he confirmed that “the eight teams left out of the Orlando resumption are allowed to waive or sign players during the transaction window,” although “they cannot sign a player to a two-way contract.”
It’s worth noting that a lot of these details are still being worked out and nothing is official as of yet. Several agents and executives pointed out that they’re receiving these updates through social media, just like the rest of us, and awaiting further instruction from the league or NBPA.
If a player gets hurt or catches coronavirus once teams are in Orlando, the pool of players to replace them will be limited, and these are the best shooters available.
The Boston Celtics and 21 other teams finishing the 2019-20 NBA season in at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida will need to tap into a limited pool of players if anyone ends up getting injured — or worse, comes down with the coronavirus behind the pandemic.
Teams will be limited to players who have signed with an NBA or G League team this season or last, and any team who decides to go this route will have to keep the player they are replacing out for the rest of the season.
So, with a very deep roster with every slot occupied by a player as good as most of the options they’d be replaced by, the chances of the Celtics dipping their toe in this particular pool is slim, but real.
Should the need arise, it’s possible the position they play and skillset they possess will dictate what the Celtics will be looking for in a replacement.
But, if a player who doesn’t spend much time in the rotation ends up with a high ankle sprain six games into the restart, it might make more sense to replace them with a player possessing skills Boston currently lacks.
And what skill does Boston need more than bench shooting?
To that end, the Celtics Wire put together a shortlist of the best shooters likely available to play in the ‘Orlando bubble’ — and no, Jamal Crawford isn’t among them (the veteran guard recorded just a 33.1 % rate from 3-point range over the last two seasons).
So if not Crawford, then who?
Let’s take a look at the six best options, noting their 3-point percentage at their last stop in the NBA.
