Dean Wade was signed to a four-year, $39 million deal and Anfernie Simons was added to a two-year, $12.3 million contract in July. So far, these free agent signings look like shrewd moves Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.com writes.
Wade averages 26.3 minutes per game and is a defensive force, including 1.9 steals per contest.
“He’s in a position where some nights he’s going to start, some nights he’s not going to start, some nights he’s going to play five, some nights he’s going to guard Jalen Brunsonhe will guard (Karl-Anthony Towns). He – I love Dean Wade“, Tyrese Maxey said.
Simmons has struggled in his last two outings, but averaged 20 points in his previous three games.
“He has everything” coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s a quick shooter. You can run him off a lot of things and he doesn’t need a lot of space. And that opens up a lot of other offensive avenues once you get used to him.”
Here’s more on the red-hot Sixers:
- They will face the Cavaliers on Friday. LeBron James ESPN’s Dave McMenamin dismisses Cleveland from signing with Philly, Wade expects raucous crowd tweets. “In the seven years that I’ve been back here, every time LeBron’s been back, it’s been crazy. It’s been crazy. The fans have been great. So I expect tonight to be like that.” he said.
- Can Maxi challenge for the Most Valuable Player award? Tony Jones from Athletic. answers that question by reporting that Maxey has been looking to improve his game through solid training this offseason. “It’s been a long offseason for me” Maxey said. “I worked on a lot. I wanted to work on a lot. I worked on my passing. I worked on my isolation and late game. I wanted to be able to come back with a move that I could make late in the game because I knew we were going to need it. I knew we were going to need it and I knew I was going to be ready to do it.” So far, it’s paying off, with Maxey averaging 28 points on 48.6 percent shooting and 5.4 assists.
- It’s easy to see the Sixers making a deep playoff run given their 8-1 start. James is trying to stop what could happen this spring, ESPN’s Chris Rome writes. “It’s too early to talk about the final and things like that on November 4,” James said after Philadelphia’s win at Detroit on Wednesday. “So we’re going to continue to just buy into what we want to do. … We’ve got a good team. Guys feel for each other, guys like each other, guys like being around each other.”
- They built their record by being elite in clutch moments, Zach Harper of The Athletic notes. They are 7-0 in “clutch games” in which teams have been within five points of each other in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Sixers haven’t had a single-possession win, but five of their eight wins have come by six points or less. However, Harper also notes that teams that win or even contend for the title don’t have many games during the regular season.
