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A look back at the 76ers trade for Wilt Chamberlain

Here’s NBC Sports Philly with their take on what might be the best trade in 76ers team history:

Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash to the San Francisco Warriors for Wilt Chamberlain:

Shaffer retired shortly after the trade, while Dierking and Neumann both had some solid NBA years left. Neither player, however, was in Chamberlain’s stratosphere. Chamberlain averaged 27.6 points, 23.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists in three-plus seasons as a Sixer, winning the championship in 1967. He probably shouldn’t have been dealt for anything less than multiple All-Stars — or perhaps an All-Star and a heap of first-round picks — but the Warriors were struggling financially and gave up a player who’d led the league in scoring for five consecutive seasons.

It would be cool for more Wilt footage to pop up someday, somehow.

When the Sixers traded Moses Malone

Here’s NBC Sports Philly reviewing some of the worst Philadelphia 76ers trades in team history, listing the Sixers’ Moses Malone deal as their worst ever:

Malone had been the missing piece in helping Dr. J get over the hump in 1982-83. His numbers as a Sixer were outstanding (23.9 points, 13.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocks per game) and it was the best era of Sixers basketball during his four seasons here.

But in 1986, the Sixers traded the 30-year-old Malone along with Terry Catledge and two first-round picks to the Bullets for Cliff Robinson and Jeff Ruland. The move was not received well by the players — especially by a young Barkley — and Malone made three more All-Star appearances.

Robinson was a pretty good player here, but not an All-Star. Ruland, who already had foot issues during the previous two seasons in Washington, played just five games with the Sixers before retiring. He made a brief comeback during the 1991-92 season but played just 13 games. This began what Sixers fans call “The Curse of Moses Malone.”

UPDATE: No salary reductions for Sixers at-will employees

UPDATE: STATEMENT FROM JOSH HARRIS, FOUNDER OF HARRIS BLITZER SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

“Our commitment has been to do our best to keep all of our employees working through this very difficult situation. As part of an effort to do that we asked salaried employees to take a temporary 20% pay cut while preserving everyone’s full benefits — and keeping our 1500 hourly workers paid throughout the regular season. After listening to our staff and players, it’s clear that was the wrong decision. We have reversed it and will be paying these employees their full salaries. This is an extraordinary time in our world – unlike any most of us have ever lived through before – and ordinary business decisions are not enough to meet the moment. To our staff and fans, I apologize for getting this wrong.”

ORIGINAL POST BELOW. THE UPDATE IS ABOVE

Sports leagues are on hold. It’s an adjustment for the entire leagues, including individual teams, and of course the people they employ.

Here’s Philly Voice with an update:

At-will employees making over $50,000 for the Sixers and Devils have been asked to take salary reductions of up to 20 percent as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, a team source confirmed to PhillyVoice on Monday evening. Marc Stein of The New York Times was the first to report the news.

Those employees include employees in marketing, sales, communications, and a variety of different members of business and sports operations for both franchises, a team source told PhillyVoice. The change will apply to the period through the end of the Sixers’ fiscal year on June 30th.

The Sixers will not have layoffs and there will not be any changes to health insurance or 401k as a result of the move, a team source told PhillyVoice, which was part of the internal discussion about such a move being made.

The fallout from coronavirus continues.

Three members of Sixers organization test positive for coronavirus

The Philadelphia 76ers, in consultation with medical experts and the NBA, received the recommendation that certain individuals from the organization, including players, coaches and specific basketball operations support staff, be tested for COVID-19. The tests were secured and processed privately.

Three individuals from the Sixers organization have received positive test results for COVID-19. All other tests results are currently negative. The team says they have reported this information to state and local health authorities as required.

Pursuant to CDC guidelines, the members of the 76ers organization who tested positive for coronavirus are in self-isolation and will be monitored closely by medical professionals.

The Sixers also say that “the health of our players, staff, fans and community is paramount, and we continue to be guided by medical experts at this time. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to the public health and medical communities for their tireless efforts during these challenging times, as well as to our fans and partners for their support.”

Impressive recent play from Sixers guard Shake Milton

It’s always fun when a backup gets handed additional responsibility while a starter is out, and then goes ahead and exceeds all expectations. Here’s NBC Sports Philly on the recent play of Sixers guard Shake Milton:

The second-year guard has taken over as the starting point guard with Ben Simmons out and on Sunday put up a career-high 39 points — including hitting 7 of 9 from deep — on the road against the Clippers in front of a national audience.

Milton also made history, making 13 consecutive threes over the course of three games to tie an NBA record. Brent Price and Terry Mills, both in 1996, also reached that mark…

Milton is the ninth player in franchise history to score at least 39 points in a game in his second NBA season. The last to do so was Joel Embiid, who dropped a then career-high 46 on the Lakers in 2017. Before that, you’d have to go back to Allen Iverson dropping 43 against the Timberwolves in 1998.

As a rookie last season, Milton averaged 4.4 points in 13.4 minutes per game. This season, he’s putting up 8.8 points in 17.8 minutes per game, on much-improved shooting.

The Sixers are 37-24, which is the 5th best record in the Eastern conference.

Ben Simmons dealing with back issue

Sixers point guard Ben Simmons has a back issue. It’s unclear whether it’s a minor injury that will quickly disappear, or something more. Here’s NBC Sports Philly reporting:

Ben Simmons, who missed the first game after the All-Star break Thursday with lower back soreness, left Saturday’s game not even five minutes in and did not return. Simmons will undergo further testing in Philadelphia Sunday, per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Serena Winters…

The All-Star point guard appeared to reaggravate the injury on a drive against Brook Lopez. After a foul was called on Lopez, Simmons could be seen attempting to stretch his back out. After Simmons made 1 of 2 from the line, Matisse Thybulle fouled Khris Middleton to get a stoppage so Simmons could go back to the locker room.

Here’s hoping it’s a minor issue.

Al Horford coming off the bench for Sixers

For the time being, it appears the Sixers will be bringing veteran power forward Al Horford off the bench. Here’s Philly Voice reporting:

Al Horford will remain in a bench role with the Sixers moving forward, which he revealed to reporters himself during media availability on Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s what the team needs right now, and that’s what we’re doing,” Horford said. “I didn’t really give it much thought to be honest, I’m just refreshed being back and ready for the second half of the season…I’m playing similar to how I was playing before.” …

Exactly who will start in Horford’s place was left purposefully unclear, though if we’re looking at the Clippers game as a guideline, Furkan Korkmaz and Glenn Robinson III were the first two players to get a crack at starters minutes.

As has been said pretty much all season, the chemistry experiment between Ben Simmons, Horford and Joel Embiid remains ongoing.

We’re way past the halfway point of the season, but the Sixers are still mixing and matching.

All Sixers talk starts with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid

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Here’s NBC Sports Philly with an overview of the Sixers as we prepare for the final third of the NBA season:

Let’s start where everything starts with the Sixers: Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. We can debate fit and clashing skill sets all we want. The bottom line is the Sixers need the All-Star duo to be peaking down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Their win over the Clippers before the All-Star break represents exactly the type of performances needed. What was most impressive is that neither player sacrificed their aggressiveness to accommodate the other. Embiid took 17 shots — but also got 13 free throws — while Simmons took a season-high 22 attempts.

While he’s played at an elite level the last 20 games, Simmons’ last 11 may represent the best stretch of his career. The 23-year-old has averaged 12.5 field goal attempts in that span. When he takes at least 13 attempts from the field this season, the Sixers are 17-5. While the jumper may not be there, his improved shot is visible from the line, where he’s hit 73.9 percent on 8.4 attempts during that stretch.

There’s no denying Embiid and Simmons’ importance, but having all of your top-five players is also pretty darn important. The Sixers have only had Embiid, Simmons, Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson and Al Horford together for 21 of 55 games. That’s just 38.1 percent.

A big season-long question with the Sixers, beyond Simmons and Embiid, is the play of veteran power forward Al Horford. When you watch the Sixers, keep an eye on Horford’s role when Embiid is on the floor vs. when he’s off it.

Of course, that same point can be made about Simmons and Embiid.

This team’s offensive spacing has been a season-long chemistry experiment that is still being figured out.

Ben Simmons having excellent defensive year for Sixers

The Sixers are a work in progress this season, but mostly on the offensive side of the floor. Defensively, they’re a success. Oversized point guard Ben Simmons is a big part of that. Here’s PhillyVoice.com discussing his defense in 2019-20:

Simmons has been the team’s most consistent defender on one of the league’s best defenses, and it is his versatility that helps him separate from the pack. Think of all the players he has guarded this season and how different each challenge is. To be able to jump from Kawhi Leonard to Trae Young to LeBron James to Jimmy Butler and often do it well is a hell of a feat.

Night-to-night, Simmons has been asked to jump between positions and shoulder a heavy workload, playing upwards of 40 minutes whenever the Sixers have needed it. Yet he never seems to tire, and some of his biggest moments of the season have come on defense in crunch-time — his back-to-back steals to seal a win against Indiana remain a highlight of the year for Philly.

There are too many mentions of Simmons’ lack of a bigtime outside shot (this mention doesn’t count!) There should be more discussion on how good he is at almost everything else. Including defense.

Sixers announce basketball operations department promotions

The Philadelphia 76ers announced promotions within the team’s basketball operations department today.

BASKETBALL OPERATIONS

Zach Sogolow has been promoted to Director, Basketball Operations after previously serving as Senior Manager, a role he held since joining the team in August 2017. Sogolow will oversee day-to-day basketball staff operations, working closely with the Assistant General Manager on league rules and compliance, as well as contract and salary-cap-related matters. He joined the 76ers after nearly two years at the NBA League Office, where he served as Basketball Operations Coordinator. Sogolow also spent the summer of 2014 with the League Office as a Basketball Operations Analytics Trainee. A four-year team manager for the Harvard Crimson men’s basketball team, Sogolow spent the 2014-15 season as a head manager, while pursuing his degree in psychology.

Mary Purcell-Davis has been promoted to Manager, a title she adds to her already-existing Executive Assistant position. She will continue to oversee basketball operations staff travel, manage day-to-day logistics of all basketball operations staff and serve as Executive Assistant to 76ers Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Alex Rucker. Purcell-Davis started her career with the 76ers in February 1987 as a receptionist and worked in advertising sales before transitioning full-time into basketball operations in 1997. A Philadelphia native, Purcell-Davis credits longtime 76ers Executive Assistant Marlene Barnes, who spent 39 years with the franchise, as a mentor. Purcell-Davis has worked with 15 different head coaches, including serving as Executive Assistant for current 76ers Sr. Advisor to the Head Coach Jim O’Brien, Oklahoma City Thunder Assistant Coach Maurice Cheeks and Phoenix Suns Assistant Coach Randy Ayers, among others.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

John Boyles has been promoted to Director, Research & Development, a role in which he will be responsible for the leadership and direction of the team’s developers and data scientists. John originally joined the team in July 2018 as a Developer, creating custom applications for use within the basketball operations department. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Pittsburgh, John spent 15 years working on distributed file systems, most notably rising to Technical Director at Avere Systems, a company eventually acquired by Microsoft. Just prior to joining the 76ers, John worked for Curalate in Philadelphia as the Technical Lead of the Metrics Team.

Grant Fiddyment has been promoted to Manager of Research after previously serving as Data Scientist within the same department. Fiddyment originally joined the 76ers in December 2016 and immediately began developing tools to analyze team training, performance and in-game strategies. He spent the previous five years as a Graduate Researcher at Boston University, where he assisted a team of mathematicians and epilepsy clinicians. Fiddyment holds degrees in several different disciplines, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Georgia and a PhD in computational neuroscience from Boston University. He has also served as an Adjunct Professorial Lecturer at American University since December 2016.

COMMUNICATIONS

Patrick Rees has been promoted to Vice President of Communications after previously serving as Senior Director within the same department. In this expanded role, Rees will continue to oversee the team’s basketball communications efforts, while also supporting the organization throughout the year on brand initiatives, launches and campaigns. In his third season with the 76ers, Rees has also worked in the PR department for the Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs over the past 15 years.