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Sixers sign rookies Ben Simmons and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot

The Philadelphia 76ers announced on Sunday, July 3 that they signed Ben Simmons and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who were selected by the Sixers with the first and 24th overall picks, respectively, in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Both players will join the Sixers Summer League team and are expected to participate in both the Utah Jazz Summer League and the Samsung NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

In his lone collegiate season at LSU, Simmons averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 35 minutes per game, each of which led the Tigers. Simmons was the consensus National Freshman of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year and was the only freshman named to the 2016 Consensus All-America Team.

The Sixers selected French forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot with the No. 24 overall pick, who most recently played for KK Mega Leks in the ABA League JTD. The 21-year-old averaged 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in 33 contests during the 2015-16 season. Luwawu-Cabarrot represented France in the 2015 U-20 European Championship where he averaged 12 points, five rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes per game.

Sixers exercise contract option on Hollis Thompson

The Philadelphia 76ers have exercised their fourth-year team option on the contract of forward Hollis Thompson.

Over the course of three NBA seasons, Thompson has appeared in 225 games (81 starts) and averaged eight points and three rebounds per contest while shooting 39 percent from three-point range. His 331 career three-pointers are the eighth-most in Sixers history.

Sixers reportedly add Shawn Long

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the Sixers, who recently selected Ben Simmons first overall in the 2016 Draft and continue to shape their team for the future:

Shawn Long agreed to a two-year partially guaranteed contract with the 76ers on Friday, according to a league source.

The 6-foot-9, 245-pound post player of Louisiana-Lafayette went undrafted in Thursday’s NBA Draft. Long impressed the Sixers during his predraft workout on May 16.

Report: Sixers want No. 3 pick from Celtics

The 2016 Draft is tonight, and rumors will be flying around like crazy all evening. We’ll share the most interesting stories, and we especially like stories that tell a bigger tale even if the deal doesn’t happen — like what a team’s goals may be and what they hope to accomplish. Here’s ESPN.com with the latest:

The Philadelphia 76ers are increasing their efforts to acquire the No. 3 pick from the Boston Celtics in Thursday night’s NBA draft, league sources tell ESPN.

Numerous rivals described the 76ers as the most active team in circulation, with a trade involving Nerlens Noel looking more and more likely.

Sixers looking to trade a big for a guard

The Sixers have a bunch of young big men on their roster that may be part of their future, but almost nothing in the backcourt. Everyone assumed that at some point the team would look to trade at least one of their frontcourt guys. We would think it would make the most sense to wait until Joel Embiid proves himself, but the team can’t wait around forever for that to happen. Here’s CSN Philly with the latest:

It’s no surprise the Sixers are looking to trade a big man for backcourt help.

League sources told CSNPhilly.com’s John Gonzalez on Friday the Sixers are shopping Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor and looking for backcourt help in return.

As reported Thursday, the Sixers have had talks with the Atlanta Hawks about a package deal involving Noel and point guard Jeff Teague.

However, no deal has been offered and no deal is imminent, according to league sources.

Unlikely that Joel Embiid will play summer league

Sixers center Joel Embiid hasn’t played in an NBA game yet, though it’s expected he’ll finally make his debut this coming season (2016-17). But what about summer league? Is it worth it to include him in something that mostly involves players that aren’t even on the Sixers’ regular season roster and merely trying to make the league? Probably not.

Here’s CSN Philly reporting:

CEO Scott O’Neil was a guest on Philly Sports Talk Live last night and put things in a bit more measured tone.

“We’re going to take every percaution you’d imagine us to take and be resonsible,” O’Neil told Michael Barkann. “I think Bryan [Colangelo] has been on record saying it’s pretty unlikely you’ll see him in Summer League and I’ll say that’s a good assessment.”

It would be fun to see him in summer league, just to see him out there, but from a bball development standpoint there’s no reason for him to do it. So, there’s nothing bad about this. What actually matters is that a hopefully healthy Embiid finally begins his career.

And as for the Sixers beyond Embiid, they won the Draft Lottery on Tuesday and now get to decide which player is worth making the No. 1 pick in the 2016 Draft.

Sponsorship of NBA team jerseys begins, with Sixers and Stubhub

We knew it was coming: Sponsor ad logos appearing on NBA jerseys. On April 15, 2016, the NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of jersey sponsorships as part of a three-year pilot program. And now the Philadelphia 76ers have broken ground.

The Sixers and StubHub have announced the first jersey patch sponsorship among major sports leagues in American history, making the 76ers the first NBA team to declare a jersey sponsor. The StubHub patch will feature the brand’s recently launched new logo and appear on the front left of Sixers’ game jerseys starting in the 2017-18 season. Starting in the 2017-18 season StubHub’s jersey patch will be included on all jerseys sold at Sixers’ home games.

“This marks another groundbreaking first for the Philadelphia 76ers and StubHub. Our brands are now inextricably linked as we create lifelong memories for our fans in Philadelphia and around the world,” said Philadelphia 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil. “Our partnership with StubHub continues to generate progressive and forward-thinking platforms created to improve the fan experience and advance our industry. The essence of our relationship with StubHub is our shared culture and ambition to innovate, which drives us to reimagine traditional partnership activation and continually ask, ‘What if?'”

“Since day one, StubHub has been a pioneer and innovator within the live entertainment ecosystem and we could not be more excited to join the Philadelphia 76ers in making history with this ground-breaking partnership,” said StubHub President Scott Cutler. “The Philadelphia 76ers are not only a beloved global brand, but they also serve as incredible partners and collaborators for StubHub – and we look forward to continuously innovating and improving the fan experience together.”

It’s safe to say that other NBA teams will follow suit. It makes sense. It’s extra revenue, sitting there waiting for teams to take it. And presumably, most squads will take advantage.

Bryan Colangelo says he never stopped scouting NBA prospects

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer with insight on the Sixers, whose relatively new president of basketball ops appears to have been fully prepared for the job:

One might think that Bryan Colangelo is way behind in the evaluation process for the NBA draft.

After all, the June 23 event will come just 74 days after he was officially introduced as the 76ers president of basketball operations.

But Colangelo will tell you that he’s far from behind. The 50-year-old said he never stopped scouting prospects in college and Europe after stepping down as Toronto’s president on June 23, 2013. In fact, the two-time executive of the year said he carried on as if he was still running an NBA team, keeping a close eye on the day-to-day happenings around the league.

“I was prepared because I needed to be prepared in the event that one of those other [jobs] that I was being considered for happened,” said Colangelo, who along with Sixers coach Brett Brown and other team officials are here this week at the NBA draft combine.

Sixers hire Bryan Colangelo as President of Basketball Operations

Philadelphia 76ers Managing General Partner Josh Harris announced today that the team has named Bryan Colangelo as President of Basketball Operations.

As part of the transition, Jerry Colangelo will relinquish the role of Chairman of Basketball Operations and remains as a special advisor to Harris.

Colangelo most recently served as President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors from 2006 to 2013. In his first full season at the helm of the Raptors (2006-07), the team saw a 20-win improvement from the previous year and tied a then franchise-high with 47 wins. Colangelo was named 2007 NBA Executive of the Year.

One of only three executives to win the award with two different franchises, Colangelo was also named NBA Executive of the Year in 2005 with the Phoenix Suns. After Colangelo’s offseason acquisition of point guard Steve Nash, who would go on to win back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player awards in 2005 and 2006, the Suns notched a 62-20 regular season record and an appearance in the Western Conference Finals.

During his tenure with Toronto, Colangelo drafted current Raptors DeMar DeRozan (ninth overall, 2009), Jonas Valanciunas (fifth overall, 2011) and Terrence Ross (eighth overall, 2012). During the 2012 offseason, Colangelo dealt for point guard Kyle Lowry, who would be named an NBA All-Star in 2015 and 2016.

Over the span of 15 years with the Suns organization, Colangelo drafted NBA All-Stars Michael Finley (21st overall, 1995), Steve Nash (15th overall, 1996), Shawn Marion (ninth overall, 1999) and Amar’e Stoudemire (ninth overall, 2002).

All told, his teams have appeared in the NBA Playoffs 11 times and have captured four division championships in his 18 seasons as a general manager.

Sixers sign Christian Wood for rest of season

The Philadelphia 76ers have signed forward Christian Wood to a contract for the rest of the season, which for the league ends this coming Wednesday, April 13.

Wood, who went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, signed with the 76ers last September 14. He has appeared in 16 career NBA games with the Sixers, averaging three points and two rebounds per game. Wood registered career-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds on November 13 at Oklahoma City.

Wood appeared in 32 games with the NBA Development League Delaware 87ers this season, averaging a team-high nine rebounds, as well as 17 points on 53% shooting in 29 minutes per game.