Philadelphia 76ers Blog – Page 32 – NBA Blog

Sixers waive Sonny Weems, sign Christian Wood to 10-day contract

The Philadelphia 76ers have “called up” forward Christian Wood from the Delaware 87ers and signed him to a 10-day contract.

Wood has appeared in 32 games with the Sevens this season, averaging a team-high nine rebounds, as well as 17 points on 53% shooting in 29 minutes per game.

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

In a related move, the team has waived guard-forward Sonny Weems.

Jahlil Okafor undergoes knee surgery

Philadelphia 76ers rookie center Jahlil Okafor, the team’s best building block for the future, underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure today to fix a slight meniscus tear in his right knee. He won’t play again this season.

The team describes the procedure as minor.

Okafor will begin his rehabilitation program tomorrow under the guidance of Sixers Director Of Performance Research & Development Dr. David T. Martin.

The Sixers are a league-worst 9-62 this season. Okafor has been their leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, averaging 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Suns sign Chase Budinger

The Phoenix Suns today signed forward Chase Budinger.

Budinger (pronounced BUD-in-grr), a 6-7, 215-pound veteran, is in his seventh NBA season. He played in 49 games with Indiana this season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 14.9 minutes and scoring in double-digits eight times, including a season-high 15 points at Philadelphia on Nov. 18.

The 27-year-old has averaged 8.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 20.0 minutes in 390 career games (50 starts) with Houston (2009-12), Minnesota (2012-15) and Indiana (2015-16). Budinger has recorded 152 career double-digit scoring games, 14 with 20-plus points and two with 30-plus, including a career-high 35 points while with the Rockets at Minnesota on April 13, 2011.

Originally the 44th overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, Budinger averaged a career-best 9.8 points in 78 games with Houston in the 2010-11 season, also averaging just shy of that mark with 9.6 points while shooting 40.2 percent from three-point territory in 2011-12. The former prep volleyball star put his athleticism and leaping ability on display with a runner-up finish in the 2012 Slam Dunk contest at NBA All-Star in Orlando.

A native of Encinitas, Calif., Budinger played three years collegiately at the University of Arizona from 2006-09, earning induction into the Wildcats’ Ring of Honor in 2011. Budinger averaged 17.0 points and 5.8 rebounds over his three seasons in Tucson, including 18.0 points as a junior in 2008-09 when he was named to the All-Pac 10 First Team. With 1,697 career points, Budinger remains 11th on Arizona’s all-time scoring leaderboard and first among those to play fewer than four seasons.

Budinger will wear uniform number 10.

Sixers add Sonny Weems, release Christian Wood

The Philadelphia 76ers have claimed guard-forward Sonny Weems off of waivers.

Weems has appeared in 176 career games in four NBA seasons and has posted averages of seven points and two rebounds in 19 minutes per game. He was originally selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 39th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft after two seasons at the University of Arkansas.

Weems played overseas from 2011-2015, before returning the NBA this season with Phoenix where he appeared in 36 games and averaged three points in 12 minutes per game.

In a related move, the team has released Christian Wood.

Sixers coach expects Dario Saric next season

Brett Brown remains confident that Dario Saric will be a member of the Sixers next season.

“Obviously, decisions are going to have to be made on his part,” the Sixers head coach said today. “But we like what we see and we believe he likes what he sees.”

Sixers player-development assistant Chris Babcock returned Friday after spending eight days with the 6-foot-10 power forward in Turkey. Saric plays for Anadolus Efes of the Turkish Basketball League.

The 76ers acquired the rights to Saric’s in the 2014 NBA draft. They traded their first-round pick, Elfrid Payton (selected 10th overall), to the Orlando Magic for Saric, who was picked 12th, plus they landed a 2017 top-11-protected pick and a 2015 second-rounder. Payton made the NBA’s all-rookie team this season.

— Philadelphia Inquirer

Sixers sign Christian Wood to 10-day contract

The Philadelphia 76ers called up forward Christian Wood from the Delaware 87ers and signed him to a 10-day contract.

Wood has appeared in 26 games with the Sevens this season, averaging a team-high nine rebounds, as well as 16 points on 52% shooting in 27 minutes per game.

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

Jerami Grant fined for throwing water bottle into stands

Philadelphia 76ers forward Jerami Grant has been fined $10,000 for throwing a water bottle into the spectator stands, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 8:44 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ 116-108 loss to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 29 at Verizon Center.

In 26.1 minutes per game, Grant is averaging 9.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

The Sixers are a league-worst 8-53 this season. Their rebuilding process continues.

Sixers reportedly tried to trade for Dennis Schroder

Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on what the 76ers had hoped to accomplish as last Thursday’s NBA trade deadline passed:

The 76ers were prepared to make major changes to their roster to get a coveted point guard at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

The team offered packages that included some combination of shooting guard Nik Stauskas, point guard Ish Smith, a player with an expiring guaranteed contract and a 2016 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for point guard Dennis Schroder, according to multiple league sources.

Former Sixer JaKarr Sampson was said to be player with the expiring contract in the deal. According to NBA rules, Smith could not have been part of a multi-player deal since he had been acquired by the Sixers fewer than 60 days before. But he could have been traded alone in a second deal.

Donatas Motiejunas trade will be voided

Usually, NBA trades that are agreed upon and then approved by the league tend to go through. An exception to this is when one of the players involved fails his physical. In that situation, the teams still have the option to stick with the deal. But if it’s a player of value who isn’t about to be cut/waived, the entire deal may fall through. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting:

The three-team trade the 76ers struck last week to acquire center Joel Anthony is going to be voided, a league source said Monday.

The trade originally was supposed to be finalized Sunday..But the Sixers, Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets agreed to a 24-hour extension that pushes the deadline back to 6 p.m. Monday. However, the Pistons are in the process of voiding the deal with the help of the NBA.

Sixers expect Joel Embiid to play next season

I know you aren’t holding your breath regarding anything about the Philadelphia 76ers and their rebuilding plan, but the following expectation, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, is perfectly reasonable:

Joel Embiid isn’t likely to play during the summer league, but 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie expects him to be ready for the 2016-2017 NBA season.

Embiid’s status was of major interest as Hinkie held a press conference at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on Friday as part of a state of the Sixers update.

Selected No. 3 overall in the 2014 NBA draft after his freshman season at Kansas, Embiid has yet to play following a second surgery on his right foot in August.

I still don’t know what to expect from Embiid impact-wise, or what would happen if he does turn out to be worthy of big-time minutes and as a result creates a logjam in the frontcourt, because there are only so many minutes that he, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor would be able to share. But having to trade one of their big men due to all of them being too talented to sit on the bench would be a nice problem for Philly to have, so no worries there.