After spending three years with Sixersveteran forward Kelly Oubre Jr signed a two-year, $16.5 million contract with Pacers for the summer. Before Sunday’s matchup between the two teams, Oubre was asked if he expected to re-sign with Philadelphia in the offseason.
According to PhillyVoice.com’s Adam Aaronson (Link to Twitter), Oubre said he heard about it “in whispers.” Mike Gansey wanted to sign “some of his Cleveland guys” after former Cavaliers GM becomes Sixers new president of basketball operations beginning of June. Philadelphia later signed the longtime former Cav Dean Wade in free will, notes Aaronson.
“Mike came from Cleveland and I heard whispers that he wanted one of his guys from Cleveland and I was like, OK, cool. I’m a Philly guy. So, I think, you know, when he comes, I’m not going to be a Philly guy anymore,’ and that was the situation.“, – said Oubre. “No offense, because business is business after all. They’ve got a great team there and they’ve put together what they think is the best team for them. So I’ll be fine somewhere else. That’s how I understood it.”
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- Free agent signings Kentavius Caldwell-Pope (11 points on 4-of-7 shooting), five assists, four rebounds, plus-21 in 27 minutes) and Anfernie Simons (17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, three rebounds, two assists, plus-22 in 23 minutes) both made a big impact in Thursday’s win over Toronto, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link). Most of the media attention was focused on blockbusters Jaylen Brown and LeBron Jamesbut the overhaul of the team’s composition extended to the bench. “It’s very gratifying, of course.Simons said after the game.(Our responsibilities) will change every game. . … Obviously, there are great players in the starting unit and (any player) can get 30 every game if they want to. As a bench, we have to continue to bring energy every night.”
- with Joel Embiid on Sunday due to management of the plantar fascia of the right foot (story via ESPN’s Chris Rome), head coach Nick Nurse turned to Jabari Walker as his starting center, according to Aaronson (Link to Twitter). The nurse added that LeBron James and Wade were also five-s smallball options Adem Bono (neck) and Dominic Barlow (back) is still on the injured side.
- I asked about the possibility of using a two-sided player Thank you, autumn center before Sunday’s game, Nurse said he thinks the 7-foot-6 big man can help the team, but he doesn’t have the “volume of work” to evaluate his performance, Aaronson tweets. “How can I put it? I just haven’t seen much… I just need to see him there in some form I guess… There’s not a lot of work there” Nurse said. Fall got his first rotation minutes of the season on Sunday and had three rebounds in just under five minutes, according to Chris Hine of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).