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Sixers sign rookie Julian Champagnie to two-way contract

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed Julian Champagnie to a two-way contract.

Champagnie joins Philadelphia after playing for the St. John’s Red Storm for three collegiate seasons, posting averages of 16.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. These numbers led to Champagnie earning two consecutive First Team All-Big East selections, becoming the seventh player in Red Storm history to earn the honor twice.

In his third and final college season, he averaged 19.2 points, which ranked second in the conference. By the end of his college career, Champagnie ranked 20th on the St. John’s program’s all-time scoring list with 1,408 total points while his 149 made threes rank fourth in Red Storm history.

As a sophomore, Champagnie more than doubled his scoring average to 19.8 points which led the conference along with upping his boards per game to 7.4 per contest. He also led the Big East with a free throw percentage of .887, eventually capturing 2020-21 Big East Most Improved Player honors. In his debut season, he was named to the Big East All-Freshman team with averages of 9.9 points and 6.5 rebounds.

A Staten Island native, Champagnie is the twin brother of Justin Champagnie who most recently played for the Toronto Raptors.

Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have a maximum of two players under two-way contracts in addition to the players under standard NBA contracts. A two-way player for the 76ers will also be eligible to provide services to the team’s G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats.

Sixers sign Trevelin Queen

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed Trevelin Queen.

Queen spent this past season playing for the Houston Rockets as well as their G League Affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. During his time with the Rockets in 2021-22, the Maryland native appeared in 10 games averaging 4.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.

The 2021-22 NBA G League MVP, Queen finished fifth in scoring at 25.3 points per game, while leading the league in steals with an average of 3.2. In 19 games (all starts) with the Vipers, he also averaged 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 35.0 minutes per contest. Queen helped Rio Grande Valley capture the 2022 NBA G League title, posting at least 24 points and seven rebounds in three of his four postseason appearances. In addition to being named league MVP, Queen was selected to the All-G League and All-Defensive teams.

Overall, across two G League seasons with the Vipers, Queen has seen action in 34 games (25 starts) and holds career averages of 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

After going undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft, Queen signed with Houston in November 2020, later joining the team’s G League affiliate after participating in Rockets’ training camp.

Prior to turning pro, Queen played two seasons at New Mexico State where he led the Aggies in scoring in his final season at 13.2 points per game which ranked ninth in the WAC. During his time with the Aggies, Queen was named the 2019 WAC Tournament MVP and was named to the 2020 All-WAC Second Team the following season.

Sixers trade Danny Green, David Roddy to Grizzlies for De’Anthony Melton

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has acquired De’Anthony Melton in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the trade, Philadelphia sent draft rights to the No. 23 selection in the 2022 NBA Draft (David Roddy) and Danny Green to Memphis.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Danny Green for everything he gave the Sixers organization over the last two seasons. He was a veteran leader, consummate professional on and off the court, and made us all better. I wish him continued success in his recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the court.

Heading into the draft, we had a goal of strengthening our rotation and believe we accomplished that by acquiring De’Anthony Melton. He is a young, tough and talented two-way player who can impact the game on multiple levels. We think he will thrive here and we’re excited to add him to our roster,” Morey said following the trade.

Last season with Memphis, Melton averaged career highs across the board with 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 22.7 minutes per game. His average of 1.4 takeaways per contest led the NBA among players who played in 25-or-fewer minutes per game and also ranked within the league’s top-15 overall. Over the past two seasons, Melton has raised his three-point shooting percentage to .388, a significant jump from the .294 mark he posted in his first two career campaigns.

Melton has seen action in 235 career games with Memphis and Phoenix, averaging 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20.7 minutes per contest. Since his NBA debut in 2018-19, Melton has 309 steals, making him one of two players with at least 300 steals in fewer than 6,000 minutes over that span.

Originally selected by Houston with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Melton was traded to Phoenix prior to the start of the 2018-19 season. He spent his lone collegiate season in his home state with the University of Southern California and posted 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 27.0 minutes per game. The Trojans posted a 26-10 regular season record in Melton’s time with the program, earning an appearance in the 2017 NCAA Tournament and reaching the second round.

Roddy (6-5, 255) was named the 2021-22 Mountain West Player of the Year and USBWA District VIII Player of the Year after averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.16 steals and 1.06 blocks in 31 games while shooting a conference-best 57.1% from the field and 43.8% from 3-point range during his junior year at Colorado State. The 21-year-old Minneapolis native helped lead the Rams to its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 and the highest seed (No. 6) in program history.

Green (6-6, 220) has competed in 819 regular season games (709 starts) and has averaged 8.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25.3 minutes while shooting 42.1% from the field and 39.9% from 3-point range in his 13-year NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers. The 34-year-old has won NBA championships with the Spurs (2014), Raptors (2019) and Lakers (2020) since he was selected with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft out of North Carolina.

Sixers president says coach Doc Rivers will return next season

The Sixers may have some changes to make this offseason, but head coach seemingly won’t be one of them. Via ESPN.com:

Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said coach Doc Rivers will return next season for a third year with the franchise.

“I just think he’s a great coach,” Morey said during Friday’s exit interviews after the Sixers were eliminated the previous night on their home court by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals. “I love working with him. I feel like I’m learning from him. I think [general manager] Elton [Brand] and I and him make a great team, and we’re gonna see where this journey takes us.

“But we feel very good about where it’s gonna take us, and it’s gonna be where we have a very good chance to win the title.”

Kyle Lowry limited in Game 3 return for Heat against Sixers

Kyle Lowry had returned, and he had returned home.

The Miami Heat point guard and Philadelphia native’s next step is to reclaim his identity.

Lowry was plainly out of sorts in the Heat’s 99-79 road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night, cutting the Heat’s lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.

“I had one good day of working out, kind of a half day, and I’ve just got to find a rhythm,” Lowry said, with the Heat turning their attention to Sunday’s 8 p.m. Game 4 at Wells Fargo Center. “I didn’t expect it to be amazing [Friday]. I didn’t expect to have zero points, but just trying to get a feel for the game, just be out there, especially in this hostile situation.”

Lowry was injured during the second half of the Heat’s first-round road loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 22. He missed four games before returning. He played 25:21 on Friday night, finishing 0 for 4 from the field, including 0 for 2 on 3-pointers, without a free-throw attempt, while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Source: Sun Sentinel

Sixers center Joel Embiid out with multiple injuries

Here’s the Philly Voice on a major Philadelphia 76ers injury:

This is the last thing the Sixers needed.

Joel Embiid, already banged up with a torn ligament in his thumb, is now out indefinitely with an orbital fracture and concussion that he suffered late in the series-clinching Game 6 against the Raptors.

The Sixers’ second-round series against the top-seeded Miami Heat begins Monday, and they’ll have to go into without their best player on the floor.

This ain’t good.

Is there a chance Embiid could come back later in the series, provided the Sixers are still hanging on? Maybe. But there’s no way to tell right now.

James Harden struggles in Sixers loss to Nets

Thursday night in Philly, as a still-inactive Ben Simmons looked on, the Nets easily handled the Sixers, winning 129-100. Here’s the Philly Voice on the play of James Harden, who shot a miserable 3 for 17 and shot just two free throws for 11 points against his former squad:

James Harden was absolutely horrendous in this game. All the issues he has been accused of having when it matters in the playoffs came roaring to the forefront in a game with all eyes on it, and it was probably the single biggest reason the Sixers found themselves down 20 points early in this game. Brooklyn’s perimeter stars played at an A1 level, and Harden was a mess, turning the ball over and getting his shot packed whenever he tried to get into the painted area.

There were far too many attempts from Harden to sell contact and draw fouls when he could have simply played basketball. He didn’t look particularly good or shoot well even when he tried to reach deep into the stepback bag, but that was frankly a secondary issue. Throughout this game, Harden looked without a hope or a plan after spending most of his time here to date completely controlling games.

You look at Harden’s passing a lot differently when the other team has completely shut him down as a scorer. There were moments in Thursday’s game where it felt like Harden was so in his head and stuck in the mud that he simply wanted to get rid of the ball, uninterested in attacking the teeth of Brooklyn’s defense. And this isn’t even a good defense! Far from it, in fact. It’s almost hard to describe just how bad and detrimental to the cause Harden was in this game.

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Sixers sign DeAndre Jordan

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed DeAndre Jordan.

In a related move, Willie Cauley-Stein has been released from his 10-day contract.

For his career, Jordan has played in 964 games (775 starts) for the L.A. Lakers, Brooklyn, New York, Dallas and the L.A. Clippers, holding career averages of 9.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 blocks in 27.0 minutes. He has appeared in 57 playoff games (all starts) for the Clippers, averaging 9.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

A 13-year veteran and one-time All-Star, Jordan is the NBA’s all-time leader in career field-goal percentage, having shot .674 (3587-5323) throughout his career. He is the only player in NBA history to shoot at least 70-percent in multiple seasons, doing so four times.

Prior to joining Philadelphia, Jordan played for the Lakers, appearing in 32 games (19 starts) this season, where he averaged 4.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 12.8 minutes, while shooting .674 from the field.

Jordan has been named to three All-NBA teams, including one First Team selection (2016) and two Third Team selections (2015, 2017). These honors came as he led the league in rebounding in consecutive seasons from 2013-15. He was named to the All-Defensive First Team in 2015 and 2016 and helped the United States win a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The former Texas A&M Aggie will wear No. 9 for the 76ers.

Philadelphia 76ers sign Willie Cauley-Stein to 10-day contract

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed Willie Cauley-Stein to a 10-day contract.

After being picked with the No. 6 overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, Cauley-Stein has appeared in 420 career games (255 starts) for Sacramento, Golden State and Dallas. He holds career averages of 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per outing while shooting .544 from the floor. Cauley-Stein has shot 50-percent-or-better from the field in each of his six professional seasons, including his rookie season where he was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

Prior to being drafted, Cauley-Stein played three seasons at the University of Kentucky where he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. That season, he was also selected to the All-SEC First Team, the All-SEC Defensive Team and the USA Today first team All-American Team. During his time as a Wildcat, Cauley-Stein recorded 233 blocks which are the second-most in program history. Cauley-Stein also is the only player in school history to record at least 500 rebounds, 200 blocks and 100 steals.

The Spearville, Kansas native will wear No. 00 with the 76ers.

Jarrett Allen selected as injury replacement for James Harden in 2022 NBA All-Star Game

Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen has been named by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to replace injured Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden on Team LeBron in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.

The matchup between Team LeBron and Team Durant in the 71st NBA All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, airing live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and ESPN Radio in the United States and reaching fans in 215 countries and territories in 59 languages.

Allen has earned his first NBA All-Star selection. He is averaging a career-high 16.2 points, a career-high 11.1 rebounds and 1.35 blocked shots in 49 games this season. A five-year NBA veteran, Allen ranks ninth in the league in rebounds per game and 13th in blocks per game. He also ranks second in the NBA in field goal percentage at a career-high 66.5 percent and tied for sixth in double-doubles with 30.

The 23-year-old Allen is the second Cleveland player to be named a first-time NBA All-Star this season, joining guard Darius Garland, who was drafted by Team Durant. Behind Allen and Garland, the Cavaliers (35-22) have the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Harden will not play in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game because of a left hamstring injury. He was selected by NBA head coaches as a reserve.