This morning’s headlines:
- Sixers go all in on Embiid
- Lakers want Ingram to relax
- Love, Rose play role in Wade’s starting assignment
- Porzingis didn’t need rough preseason
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Sixers go all in on Embiid — Thirty-one games is a small sample size, but apparently more than enough for the Philadelphia 76ers to go all-in on Joel Embiid. The two sides have reportedly agreed to a five-year, $148 million contract extension. And while it might some like a head scratcher to some, not to those in Philadelphia who see Embiid up close on a daily basis. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Daily News explains:
Joel Embiid just got paid.
The 76ers center and the team have agreed in principle on a five-year, $148 million extension, the maximum based on the designated rookie scale. He could earn $178 million if he meets the super-max criteria, which include making an all-NBA team or being named league MVP.
The deal, however, is heavily salary-cap protected should Embiid miss significant playing time because of injuries.
Even if only of 50 percent of his contract is guaranteed, the big man will still walk away with $74 million. Not bad for a guy who has played in only 31 games because of injuries since being selected third overall in the 2014 NBA draft.
Embiid tweeted at 12:06 a.m. Tuesday “The Process to be continued ……. I LOVE YOU PHILADELPHIA #5MoreYears.”
He wasn’t available for comment on Monday.
After spending time at the team’s practice facility, the 23-year-old flew to Boston on Monday to rejoin his teammates. He wasn’t at TD Garden before the start of the Sixers preseason game against the Boston Celtics. Embiid is scheduled to practice with them on Tuesday.
Sixers coach Brett Brown has declined comment on his franchise player’s new deal until it becomes official.
“I don’t want to comment on his contract or his injuries,” he said.” What I do want to I want to comment on is the skill that we see now. I see what he does on the court. I’m reminded of … what he can do and how good he can be.”
However, that didn’t stop Embiid’s teammates from speaking freely about his deal before Monday’s matchup.
“I don’t know what to say about that,” Sixers point guard Ben Simmons of Embiid’s contract. “What is it, $150 something? Five years? You are set. …
“I hope he does [get $178 million], because that would means that he’s killing. I can’t wait for him to start playing with us.”
Simmons was asked by a reporter why Embiid deserves all that money.
The first overall draft pick in 2016 chuckled before responding, “Have you seen him play? He’s a beast.
“I can’t name one person that can stop him. Honestly, there’s nobody that can compete with him at his position. No one.”
We all know Embiid’s injury history. He’s still hasn’t played in a game after having what the Sixers called “minor” surgery more than six months ago to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The goal was for him to return for the season-opening matchup against the Wizards in Washington on Oct. 18. However, Embiid has been ahead of schedule in rehabilitation.
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Lakers want Ingram to relax and enjoy the process — That face of the franchise business Brandon Ingram believes is a part of his destiny in Los Angeles can wait. The Los Angeles Lakers do not want to heap that pressure on their young forward, not right now. They want Ingram to relax and embrace the roller coaster process that is becoming a foundational player in the NBA before worrying with anything else. Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times provides some details:
On Sunday night in Las Vegas, Magic Johnson, a man with great expectations for Brandon Ingram, made an observation to the second-year forward.
He hadn’t seen Ingram have fun yet this preseason. And he wasn’t alone in feeling that way.
“I think [Lakers coach Luke Walton] and Magic have been trying to tell me just go out there and have fun,” Ingram said. “Just try to go out there and relax a little bit and play my game.”
Ingram did change over the summer. His body filled out a little bit. He gained confidence he didn’t have as a rookie. He entered training camp eager to show what was different. As he enters his second NBA season, the Lakers imposed some big, public expectations on Ingram, whether those be that he lead the Lakers in scoring, or that he take over and make the Lakers his team.
But all that progress from the offseason hasn’t yet translated onto the court.
“I feel like offensively it is not going so well, at all,” Ingram said Monday. “Kind of figuring out how to do different things on the basketball floor. I know I put in a lot of hard work in during the summer so it got to come sooner or later.”
It’s early, but Ingram has averaged eight points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 turnovers per game this preseason.
“He wants to be great so bad and he’s worked so hard that he wants to show everyone how good he is,” Walton said. “I think because of that he’s had some possessions where he definitely is trying to do too much. My message to him is look, we’re going to be together for a lot of years and you’re going to be a great NBA player. So just keep working the way you work and enjoy it. Have fun with your young teammates, growing together and let the game come to you as opposed to trying to go out there and force some things.”
Perhaps most worrisome, at least for now, are his shooting numbers. Ingram is making only 26.7% of his field goals and 12.5% of his three-pointers. Last season Ingram shot 40.2% and 29.4% from three. Ingram shot the ball well in college and had hoped to improve his numbers this year. To that end, he spent time with Lakers assistant coach Brian Keefe working on that, and teammates said they noticed a difference in his form.
“Feels good,” Ingram said of his shot. “I am just a little uptight sometimes.”
Walton said Ingram came into training camp with some minor injuries that affected his routine. He thinks that might have something to do with Ingram’s cold start and said Ingram has recently been able to get back to the routine with which he feels comfortable.
“To me it’s similar to how last year went,” Walton said. “Early on we kept telling you how good this guy is and the numbers weren’t matching up. And then he got his rhythm later in the year and was really good from January on. I think right now it’s just about him finding his rhythm and comfort again.”
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Love, Rose play role in Wade’s starting assignment — Dwyane Wade is a starter. It’s all he’s ever known during his NBA career. And it’s what he’ll know this season in Cleveland after he was tabbed to start alongside Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder, LeBron James and Kevin Love in Tyronn Lue’s first five. Surprisingly, Love and Rose (and not necessarily James) played vital roles in Wade being in that starting unit, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue announced Dwyane Wade as his starting shooting guard on Monday afternoon. And two players — Kevin Love and Derrick Rose — made the switch possible.
It starts with Love, who was named the starting center prior to the team’s annual scrimmage last Monday, replacing non-shooter Tristan Thompson.
Had Thompson stayed as center, the Cavs would’ve had three players (Thompson, Wade and Rose) in the group that combined to make 58 3-pointers during the 2016-17 season — none of which shot better than 31 percent from long range.
In an era of pace and space, on a team that leans heavily on 3-pointers, that would have been a shock to the offensive system. And the Cavs’ lethal offense would’ve lost an important dimension. In that scenario, J.R. Smith’s outside shooting prowess would have been a necessity to keep defenses honest and keep the court from getting overly crowded.
But Love’s versatility — and the spacing he brings — changes that. It also helps that Jae Crowder, starting at power forward this season, shot nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc and has the ability to cause his own matchup problems.
As for Love, he pulls bigger defenders away from the basket, creating driving lanes that someone will need to capitalize on. Enter Wade.
In Chicago last season, he averaged 6.2 drives, tallying 4.7 points per game on those chances. The added spacing with Love and Crowder hovering around the perimeter will allow Wade to work in the post as well, ranking second among all guards in post-up scoring last season.
It may not go as planned. Lue said he wants to “see how it works.”
There are defensive issues that could arise. Thompson was Cleveland’s lone rim protector and James said Monday he’s not going to be the one to replace that. Swapping Thompson for Love is a defensive downgrade. Removing Smith, considered the Cavs’ best perimeter defender, puts a lot of pressure on Wade, who hasn’t had that responsibility for a few years.
From an offensive standpoint, a starting backcourt with Rose and Wade will certainly raise eyebrows. Remember last season when Chicago began with limited outside shooters Rajon Rondo and Wade and the 3-point woes that stemmed from that decision? The hope is there is enough shooting with James, Crowder and Love to offset those potential complications.
“They’ll be fine,” Lue said. “They’re both good cutters off the ball, good slashers. Both can get to the paint. They’ll be good together. Just got to wait and see how they feel, but I’m excited about it.”
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Rough preseason is exactly what Porzingis didn’t want, need — This isn’t the way Kristaps Porzingis envisioned his first preseason going as the undisputed No. 1 option for the New York Knicks. A training camp marred by injuries and struggles certainly were not a part of his plan. And yet, here he is, in the middle of the mess, writes Zach Braziller of the New York Post:
The Knicks announcers are taking shots at him, and his right hip is barking.
This can’t be the finish to the preseason Kristaps Porzingis envisioned prior to his third NBA season.
Twenty-four hours after he was called out by MSG personalities Alan Hahn and Wally Szczerbiak for his ineffective play, Porzingis missed Monday night’s 117-95 preseason loss to the Rockets at the Garden with a sore right hip that could also keep him out of the final dress rehearsal Friday against the Wizards.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Porzingis is having problems lifting his leg, a concerning statement about the face of the franchise. Later, when pressed, Hornacek said he is “hopeful” Porzingis will play Friday.
“He said he went out there last game and felt it a little bit but he was playing. When he really took his stride it was soreness in there,” Hornacek said. “Trainers will work on him and get him a bunch of treatment to get him ready.
“I think it’s just sore. He doesn’t remember the play it happened. He had trouble lifting his leg. I don’t know how long that will be.”
After missing a total of 26 games in his first two years in the league, Porzingis spent the offseason working with his Spanish physiotherapist Manolo Valdivieso. He even brought him to New York for the season, hoping Valdivieso would help him stay on the court. But Porzingis is dealing with a hip issue. He also missed a practice early in the training camp with a bruised knee. His hip was examined by team doctors Monday, but it is unclear if he has undergone any tests.
The injury news comes on the heels of a poor performance by Porzingis and his teammates in Sunday’s embarrassing 117-83 loss to the Nets in Brooklyn. MSG’s Hahn and Szczerbiak were caught by a hot mic taking the 7-foot-3 forward to task at halftime of the ugly outing in which he had six points, three blocks and was a minus-20.
“The other thing you could do is kill Porzingis for being minus-20 in 16 minutes,” Hahn said to Szczerbiak during a halftime commercial break. “Dude, like come on, man. You’re a star. This is what you’re doing? You’re just out there?”
Before the audio turned to a commercial, Hahn said something unclear about Porzingis having “a lot to learn.”
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SOME RANDOM HEADLINES: Thunder will finish the preseason with a wounded roster … Reggie Jackson finally returns to action for the Detroit Pistons … Brett Brown is all too familiar with division rival and All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving … The Utah Jazz got along just fine without their defensive anchor Rudy Gobert … John Lucas III is not lacking for role models in Minnesota … Second opinion, no surgery needed for Nic Batum
