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The Philadelphia 76ers waived Hollis Thompson today.
Thompson appeared in 31 games this season and averaged six points, three rebounds and one assist in 18 minutes per game.
Thompson was originally signed by the Sixers on September 24, 2013 and appeared in 256 games (82 starts), posting averages of eight points, three rebounds and one assist on 42% shooting from the field in 24 minutes per game.
With the move, the Sixers roster currently stands at 14 players.
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Gerald Henderson’s left-hip pain was too intolerable for him remain on the court.
The Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard was laboring on the Golden 1 Center with 8 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in Monday night’s 102-100 setback to the Sacramento Kings. Henderson spoke with Sixers coach Brett Brown, who basically came on the court to call a timeout as a way to get his veteran leader out of the game.
In possession of their own pick and the Los Angeles Lakers’ top-three protected pick, the 76ers will probably be picking twice in the lottery. The good news for the Sixers is that this draft is shaping up to be a pretty deep one. Even better news is that it’s deep with what they need: guards and wings.
Markelle Fultz is the front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick. He’d be an excellent fit as a point guard who is more of a scorer/shooter (49 percent from three) than a facilitator to play with Simmons (not to say Fultz is a poor passer). Malik Monk of Kentucky is an undersized combo guard who, like Fultz, can light up the scoreboard. Lonzo Ball of UCLA is another combo guard with the ability to shoot (43 percent from three) and dish (8.3 assists).
Then there’s athletic wings like high-flying Kansas freshman Josh Jackson who can do a little bit of everything. The ACC has two long, athletic wings that can wreak havoc on both ends in Florida State’s Isaac Austin and Duke’s Jayson Tatum. Landing one of these guys would give the Sixers scary length and a potentially disruptive defense.
Quick Take: At some point, two things have to happen for the Sixers: 1) Full health. 2) A clear indication that their season will be one of serious competition, and not riding the bottom of the standings anymore. Perhaps that’ll happen in 2017-18.
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Back on the court for just his second game of the season, Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel expressed frustration over his limited playing time in Friday night’s 100-89 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Noel, who made his season debut Sunday after recovering from offseason knee surgery only to sprain his left ankle and miss Wednesday’s game, had two points in eight minutes against the Lakers. Afterward, he aired his frustration.
“I think I’m too good to be playing eight minutes,” said Noel, the No. 6 pick in the 2013 draft. “That’s crazy. Need to figure this s— out.”
— ESPN.com
Quick Take: Nerlens just got back on the court. The first step is for him to stay healthy, fit into the rotation, and earn additional playing time.
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The Philadelphia 76ers announced that guard Jerryd Bayless underwent successful surgery this morning to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist, which will be immobilized for the next 12 weeks.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Michelle Carlson of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
“While it’s unfortunate Jerryd will miss the remainder of the season, we feel confident that today’s procedure will resolve his wrist injury and related discomfort,” said Sixers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo. “Jerryd is to be credited with his committed and professional approach in making every effort to avoid this outcome.”
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Bayless signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Sixers in July. So he’s part of their future plans.”
On October 21, the Sixers medical staff identified the source of the left wrist soreness to be a ligament injury and at that time both he and the team elected to pursue non-surgical treatment options to address the injury.
During his second game of the season vs. Memphis on November 23 – in which he had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes – multiple falls to the floor resulted in significant impact to the wrist. Bayless and the team then consulted with multiple wrist and hand specialists, who concluded that surgery was needed.
Bayless was signed by the Sixers on July 13, 2016 and appeared in three games this season, posting averages of 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes per game.
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The weeks and months have quickly piled up. Nerlens Noel has not played an NBA regular-season game since last season ended for the Sixers on April 13. Nearly eight months later, Noel is nearing the return he has been eyeing for quite some time now.
“It’s always an excitement to be able to play basketball after this amount of time, including the summer, not being able to play organized basketball at a competitive level,” Noel said Thursday. “I’ve been really looking forward to this. I think I’ve gained some momentum coming back from this minor surgery, and I think I’m in a really good place and I’m feeling good with my body. Everything is on point.”
Noel has been sidelined since undergoing elective left knee surgery in October to address an inflamed plica. He traveled to New Orleans on Wednesday to join the Sixers ahead of their 99-88 win over the Pelicans (see game recap). Noel continued his rehab Thursday while the team prepped for the game.
Quick Take: The Sixers are 5-18 this season, the second worst record in the NBA, ahead only of the 4-17 Mavericks. It’s nice that they’re getting Noel back, but it’s very unclear how he, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor will fit together. The chemistry experiment will be worth watching.
The Sixers’ game against the Kings at the Wells Fargo Center has been postponed because of moisture on the court. There was no immediate word on a rescheduled date for the game.
Arena staff members tried using wet mops to fix the issue to no avail.
“The Philadelphia 76ers announced that tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings has been postponed due to an issue with the surface of the court and with player safety in mind,” the team said in a statement. “Arena officials worked diligently to address the issue, but NBA officials determined that the court was not suitable for play.”
Quick Take: The InsideHoops Twitter account decided to get silly as the game started to be in doubt and tweeted “Trust the mopcess.” Unfortunately, the mops were unable to do the job. The best reaction after the non-game was from Sixers center Joel Embiid, who tweeted the following: Well The court was tanking tonight…. #TrustTheProcess
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The Philadelphia 76ers assigned Nerlens Noel to the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League today.
The move is for health reasons. The assignment is part of Noel’s ongoing rehabilitation program for his left knee.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “the move is similar to what Jerryd Bayless did on Nov. 14 to get in some practice time. The Sixers will host the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. As a result, there won’t be a practice opportunity for Noel. He will practice down there on Wednesday.”
In a related move, the team has recalled Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot from the Sevens.
The Oklahoma City Thunder has acquired forward Jerami Grant and a trade exception from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for forward Ersan Ilyasova and a protected draft pick, Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today.
Oklahoma City will convey its first round pick, in the first allowable draft beginning in 2020, unless that pick falls within the top 20 picks of that year’s draft. If the pick is within the top 20, the Thunder will instead send the 76ers its own second round draft picks in 2022 and 2023.
The 22-year-old Grant (6-8, 210) has appeared in 144 games (63 starts) over three seasons with Philadelphia, averaging 8.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.38 blocks in 24.2 minutes per game. This season, Grant is averaging 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds 2.00 blocks and 20.5 minutes per contest.
Originally selected by the 76ers with the 39th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Grant spent two seasons at Syracuse where he averaged 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds as a sophomore. He scored in in double-figures in 24 of his 32 games played that season.
Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo announced today the team has exercised the fourth-year contract options on center Joel Embiid and guard Nik Stuaskas, as well as the third-year contract option on forward Jahlil Okafor.
The Sixers selected Embiid with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. After missing the first two seasons while he fully recovered from an injury, Embiid appeared in all seven of the Sixers preseason games this season. He posted averages of 11 points, six rebounds and one block in only 15 minutes per game. He enters the 2016-17 season as a leading candidate for NBA Rookie of the Year.
Stuaskas, selected eighth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2014 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Sixers as part of a trade on July 10, 2015. In his first season with the Sixers, he appeared in 73 games (35 starts) and averaged nine points, three rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes per contest.
Okafor was selected by the Sixers with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, after averaging 18 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block on 51% shooting from the field in 30 minutes per game. Additionally, Okafor was selected to participate in the NBA Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend in Toronto.