The Knicks are signing guard Malcolm Brogdon to a one-year deal.
SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley reports that Brogdon's deal is non-guaranteed.
Begley notes that Brogdon will get strong consideration for a roster spot, adding that if the Knicks don't trade a rostered player that they'll likely have to choose between Brogdon and the recently-signed Landry Shamet.
Brogdon, 32, had a solid season last year for the Wizards, averaging 12.7 points and 4.1 assists per game. He was limited to 24 contests, though, making 13 starts.
During his nine-year career, which has also included stints with the Bucks, Pacers, Celtics, and Trail Blazers, Brogdon has averaged 15.3 points and 3.6 assists.
The Knicks, under new head coach Mike Brown, appear to be entering the 2025-26 season with a much deeper team (and rotation) than the ones they had under former head coach Tom Thibodeau.
In addition to the signings this offseason of Brogdon and Shamet, the Knicks have added guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Guerschon Yabusele.
They join a core that consists of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride.
Right after the league releases the schedule for the upcoming campaign, season ticket holders often huddle to divide packages split among friends and family. And the proceedings can be electric.
We’ve heard from multiple ticket-holders how much time and energy goes into plotting their draft strategy. Is opening night a first-round pick that year? (It certainly was last year.) How long will the lone Lakers visit stay on the board? Which opposing players are must-see when they come to Boston?
1. You can’t pick a tribute game. As we documented in Day 9 of the series, there likely will be four games this season in which a core member of the 2024 title team returns to the Garden and be honored for their time here. Those games will come off the board early.
2. You can’t pick Cooper Flagg’s first visit to Boston on March 6. Oh, you want to see the New England-bred rookie? Yeah, you and the rest of Maine. Get in line, buddy.
3. There were no restrictions on picking a road game. And, if we’re being honest, we encourage every Celtics fan to make a trek. If nothing else, it will make you appreciate TD Garden that much more.
We’re clearly making our panel work a bit here. Help me find some hidden gems. Give me a game with a storyline that isn’t so obvious. We probably should have told our panel no Lakers games either, especially with Marcus Smart now donning the purple and gold. But we don’t blame those who leaned that way. It’d be near the top of our list, too.
Here are five other home games we would target once the more obvious dates went off the board:
1. November 26 vs. Detroit. Not only are Cade Cunningham and the Pistons one of our favorite young teams to watch, but we get a 5 p.m. ET tip on Thanksgiving Eve. And it’s an NBA Cup game. What a way to kick off an extended holiday weekend.
2. December 28 at Portland. We’re skirting the rules here by using Christmas break to make a cross-country dash to see Celtics-Blazers.
Not only will it be Jrue Holiday’s first game against Boston, but it could be Robert Williams III’s first game against the Celtics, too. Time Lord hasn’t played in any of the four C’s-Blazers matchups since his departure. We’d fly 2,500 miles for that.
3. November 1 vs. Houston. The Rockets made a pretty big acquisition this summer (and we’re not just talking about JD Davison on a two-way deal).
Give us a Saturday primetime matchup with Kevin Durant, Ime Udoka, and a Houston team that has big goals this season.
4. February 8, 2026 vs. New York. The Celtics are back to hosting a Super Bowl matinee, and we get a divine 12:30 p.m. ET tip at the Garden. Even better, this one falls just a few days after the trade deadline, so there’s a good chance you’d see any player acquired in a move.
5. Any game in March or April at the Garden. Look, I have no idea if the Celtics will even entertain the idea of putting Jayson Tatum back on the court this season. Later in this series, we’ll ask our panel to predict his return date. But if we’re looking for a high-reward game, then we’re rolling the dice on a potential return after the All-Star break.
Let’s check what our panel came up with:
Darren Hartwell, Managing Editor
I wanted to choose a deep cut, but the answer is obvious: Celtics vs. Lakers on December 5.
There are too many good storylines here, from LeBron James potentially playing his last game in Boston, to Luka Doncic’s return to the scene of the 2024 NBA Finals crime, to Marcus Smart playing in just his second game against his old team — as a member of its longtime nemesis.
Michael Hurley, Web Producer
I’m cheating and picking two games: November 7 and 9 at the OrlandoMagic.
It’s an odd choice because I actually despise watching games played in that arena. But I’m using last season’s Magic as a measuring stick for this season’s Celtics team.
Last year, Orlando was perfectly .500 at 41-41, good enough for the seventh seed in the East. With Boston’s expectations plummeting in Jayson Tatum’s absence, can the Celtics still be on the level of a mediocre Eastern Conference team that makes the playoffs? I think they should. Those two games will provide a real look.
Sean McGuire, Web Producer
December 26 at the Indiana Pacers.
Why? Joe Mazzulla is so maniacal that he’ll fabricate bulletin-board material even if it’s something silly. The Celtics not earning a spot in the Christmas Day lineup for the first time in a decade is a real slight. That doesn’t need fabrication.
I’m banking on Mazzulla coaching his ass off en route to a one-sided road win against a fellow playoff team.
Josh Canu, Media Editor
December 5 vs. the Lakers.
Boston vs L.A. is big enough, but mix in LeBron James and Luka Doncic coming to town, along with a returning Marcus Smart, and you got a formula for must-see TV. Oh, and it is a Friday night, so I expect a very loud TD Garden.
Jim Aberdale, Supervising Producer, Celtics
Timberwolves vs. Celtics on March 22.
The battle of Georgia natives Anthony Edwards and Jaylen Brown turns into a mano-a-mano scoring showdown.
Max Lederman, Content Producer
Easy answer: October 24 at the Knicks.
I don’t like the Knicks. I don’t like Knicks fans. I don’t like the fact they ended the Celtics’ season last year and I blame them for Jayson Tatum rupturing his Achilles. I NEED REVENGE (in the form of a Celtics win inside MSG)!
Kevin Miller, VP, Content
This is somewhat unfair because I still love any Warriors game, but I guess that gets eliminated as an option if Horford ends up there. I’ll go with a few others: Opening Night against the 76ers.
I’m so curious to see how this team plays, from the energy I expect they’ll play with to the new-look rotation to how Jaylen Brown looks Plus, you can only watch it on NBC Sports Boston (shameless plug).
The other one for me is the back-to-back with the Timberwolves and Thunder on March 22 and 25. I think the Celtics are going to be scrapping their way to a top-four seed in the East, and I always love these measuring-stick games late in the season. Good players on both teams and top competition.
Adam Hart, EP, Content Strategy
December 5 against the Lakers.
There are few things I enjoy more than Jaylen Brown ruining Luka Doncic’s night.
Jason Collins is being treated for a brain tumor, the league said Thursday. The first active NBA player to come out as gay is pictured in 2014. (Jonathan Bachman / Associated Press)
Retired NBA player and former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, the NBA said Thursday in a statement released on behalf of Collins and his family.
"Jason and his family welcome your support and prayers and kindly ask for privacy as they dedicate their attention to Jason's health and well-being," the league said.
A 46-year-old native of Northridge, Jason Collins and twin brother, Jarron, led Harvard-Westlake to state Division III titles in 1996 and 1997, with the former being named the state Division III player of the year both seasons. His 1,500 career rebounds stood as a CIF state record until 2010, when Hemet West Valley's Joe Burton finished his career with 1,721 rebounds.
Collins made first-team All-Pac-10 during his senior year at Stanford. He was selected 18th overall in the 2001 draft by the Houston Rockets and traded on draft night to the New Jersey Nets.
Averaging 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds during his 13-year NBA career, Collins also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
He was unsigned in April 2013 when he came out as gay in an open letter published in Sports Illustrated.
While no longer the target of it, Malik Beasley remains a subject in a wide-ranging gambling investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York (the one that led to a lifetime ban of Raptors guard Jontay Porter). Part of the focus of that investigation is on some games Beasley played while with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, and prop bets around his play in those games.
The NBA is also investigating the matter, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday.
"I'll only say there that the investigation is ongoing," Silver said following the league's Board of Governors meeting in New York. "As I understand it, there's still a federal investigation that's ongoing of Malik Beasley as well. We will address whatever is presented to us in his case."
Beasley has not been charged in relation to the federal investigation and is no longer its central focus, a fact his agent has repeatedly emphasized. Beasley is fully cooperating with the investigation as well, according to his attorney.
While true, because Beasley remains a subject in that investigation — which could still lead to charges — and could face discipline from the league, no team has gone near him in free agency. Back before the start of free agency (and before news of the investigation broke), Beasley was reportedly in discussions about re-signing in Detroit for around three years, $42 million. Now, even if he were cleared of all charges tomorrow, no team has that kind of cap space left to spend. Detroit moved on and added Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson to fill Beasley's role.
Beasley had a large role in Detroit. He averaged 16.3 points a game while shooting 41.6% on 3-pointers for the Pistons last season, and he finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting. He'd be the best free agent on the market, but until these investigations are wrapped up, teams may express interest but will stay at arm's length.
The Knicks considered other options, including Ben Simmons. Landry Shamet had other offers from teams looking for bench depth.
In the end, they decided to get back together, with Shamet agreeing to a one-year veteran minimum contract to return to New York, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. Ian Begley of SNY.TV confirmed this, and he added details.
Landry Shamet had other options but prioritized continuity in returning to the Knicks, a source said. He wanted to return to a locker room he liked and to help NYK compete for a title. Shamet and Knicks will agree on a one-year deal. Knicks have enough room for rookie vet…
Shamet averaged 5.7 points across 50 games for the Knicks last season, while shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc.
Shamet joins a fairly deep guard rotation, one that new coach Mike Brown is going to trust and use more than Tom Thibodeau did. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges are expected to start at the guard spots, with Miles "Duece" McBride and newcomer Jordan Clarkson behind them. Shamet will be fighting for minutes behind that foursome, along with Tyler Kolek.
The Knicks are re-signing veteran guard Landry Shamet to fill their final roster spot.
A source tells SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley that Shamet had other options but prioritized continuity in returning to the Knicks, and wanted to help the Knicks compete for a title.
Begley previously reported that New York saw Shamet as a possibility and he was open to returning to the team.
Shamet, 28, averaged 5.7 points per game and shot 39.7 percent from three-point range over 50 games with New York last season.
Even after signing Shamet, the Knicks will still have financial flexibility to sign a different player ahead of the season before reaching the second apron.
According to Begley, while things are always fluid, the uncertainty around Malik Beasley’s legal situation recently made the Knicks hesitant to sign the shooting guard.
Shamet played in 11 playoff games last season, often in mop-up duty, but provided a couple sparks off the bench, including scoring 12 points in the Knicks' Eastern Conference Finals Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
He, along with fellow newcomers Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, will join Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride as the rest of new coach Mike Brown's rotation for the 2025-26 season.
Luka Doncic was the best player at EuroBasket: 34.7 points a game (first in the tournament), 8.6 rebounds (eighth) and 7.1 assists (tied for second). He may not win MVP because Slovenia was eliminated in the round of eight, but that was as far as he could carry this roster. Coming off a summer focused on conditioning — which went viral — Doncic looked dominant.
Doncic's play and the fact that he signed a contract extension with them have the Lakers — who previously had focused on having cap space and flexibility next summer — considering a more aggressive approach, reports Dan Woike at The Athletic. He specifically named Miami's Andrew Wiggins.
According to team and league sources, the Lakers' stance on roster improvements heading into this season has shifted because of the start of this new chapter together...
One area the team is focused on is upgrading the wing, where it needs more two-way talent. A player like Miami's Andrew Wiggins, whom the Lakers weren't interested in earlier this summer, is now a more desirable player, provided the price is right.
Wiggins, who played 60 games last season between Golden State and Miami, averaged 18 points and 4.5 rebounds a game while shooting 37.4% from 3. He's a solid wing player who still can show flashes of why he was drafted No. 1 overall (like his play during the Warriors' 2022 championship run, the season he was named an All-Star). Even with his play last season, Wiggins would be an upgrade over someone like Rui Hachimura for Los Angeles. Wiggins will make $28.2 million this season and has a player option for $30.2 million next season.
The buzz out of Miami has been that the Heat want to see how the team looks to start the season before making any moves. If the Heat struggle out of the gate, they would have a financial incentive to shed salary (they are currently are flirting with the tax line). Both the Heat and Lakers are hard-capped at the first apron, and the Lakers are just $1.1 million below that line, so any trade that sees the Heat shed salary and the Lakers take on Wiggins will have to involve a third team, likely Brooklyn (it has cap space). That's a lot that has to come together.
This illustrates the challenge of the Lakers getting more aggressive during the season — they have very limited financial flexibility. Making in-season deals will be challenging, the Lakers can't even take on a veteran minimum contract until mid-January. The Lakers will also want to assess their current roster with a motivated Doncic plus LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and newcomers such as Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart.
It's more likely the Lakers can make bold moves next summer, when LeBron becomes a free agent and his $52 million comes off the books (even if the plan is to re-sign James, they will have flexibility). Still, it sounds like the Lakers aren't going to treat this coming season as a gap year, especially if they can find the right trade.
Jason Collins, the 13-year NBA veteran player who became a league ambassador after his playing days — famously the first pro athlete to come out as gay while still playing in the NBA or any major American sports league — is battling a brain tumor, his family has announced.
His family released this statement through the league:
"NBA Ambassador and 13-year NBA veteran Jason Collins is currently undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. Jason and his family welcome your support and prayers and kindly ask for privacy as they dedicate their attention to Jason's health and well-being."
"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."
Collins, 46, and his twin brother Jarron Collins dominated Southern California high-school basketball together at Harvard-Westlake — having twin athletic 7-footers on a high school team wins a lot of games — before choosing to attend Stanford together. There, Collins helped lead the Cardinal to the Elite Eight one season and the Final Four the next. Collins was the No. 18 overall pick of the Houston Rockets in the 2001 NBA Draft, then was traded on draft night with Richard Jefferson to the New Jersey Nets. Collins had a growing role with the Nets and was the starting center on the 2003 team that reached the NBA Finals with Jason Kidd at point guard (Collins was matched up with Hall of Famer David Robinson in those Finals, which the Tim Duncan Spurs won).
Collins earned his reputation as a physical, rock-solid defensive center who went on to play 13 NBA seasons for the Nets, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Hawks, Celtics and Wizards (finishing his career with the Nets, who had moved to Brooklyn at that point).
After retiring from playing, Collins became an ambassador for the league, serving in that role at a number of events. Collins has long had a relationship with film producer Brunson Green, and the couple was married earlier this year.
The NCAA is investigating potential violations of sports betting rules involving 13 former men’s basketball players who competed for six schools. Cases include athletes formerly associated with Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley. The schools are not under investigation or at risk of being penalized.
On Wednesday, after a meeting with all the NBA owners, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sounded cautious, patient and a little bit zen about the investigation into the Clippers trying to circumvent the salary cap with team sponsor Aspiration. "I'm a big believer in due process and fairness, and we need to now let the investigation run its course," Silver said. He said he wanted to see "substantial proof" of the Clippers' wrongdoing.
• In 2021, Kawhi Leonard signed a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Aspiration, a "green bank" company dealing in carbon credits (the company has since gone bankrupt, and its CEO pled guilty to bilking $248 million from investors). The way this endorsement paid out was $7 million a year, or quarterly payments of $1.75 million. At the crux of this controversy is the fact that Leonard did nothing for Aspiration to earn this money — no appearances, no marketing, not even a social media post. This was a "no-show" job. Employees with Aspiration said they were told not to question the Leonard contract, this was to help the Clippers circumvent the salary cap.
• Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had invested $50 million personally in Aspiration back in 2021 (prior to the Leonard endorsement contract), and it had become a $300 million sponsor of the Clippers. Ballmer and the Clippers have said that while they introduced Leonard and Aspiration — as is permitted under league rules — they had no details about his endorsement deal, and that the Clippers ended their relationship in 2023 with Aspiration after it defaulted on their obligations. Ballmer told ESPN, “I was duped” by Aspiration (as were many other investors).
• The latest PTFO reporting focuses on the final months of 2022: In September of that year, Aspiration missed a quarterly $1.75 million payment to Leonard as the failing company was coming apart at the seams. This had Dennis Robertson — "Uncle Dennis," Leonard business manager and uncle who had asked the Raptors for no-show endorsements during free agency in 2019, and asked the Lakers and Clippers for much more like a piece of the organization, a home, and use of a plane — hounding Aspiration for the money Leonard was owed (which flowed into a specially formed LLC for this endorsement money).
• Enter Dennis J. Wong — the vice chairman of the Clippers, a man who owns 1% of the team (Ballmer owns the other 99%). According to Aspiration bank records, on Dec. 6, 2002, Aspiration received a $1.99 million wire from Wong's investment LLP. That came at a time when the company was hemorrhaging money, was in default and was not a good investment, company employees told Torre. All of that was public and disclosed, and Wong should have known about it.
• On Dec. 15, Leonard got his $1.75 million fall quarterly payment from Aspiration. That same day, Aspiration laid off 10% of its remaining workforce.
• A finance executive with Aspiration said this to Torre about Wong's investment: "It is not a rational investment that someone would make. So it is very shocking to me that $2 million was made as an investment by Dennis Wong, who in my texts is identified as the 'Clippers' and Steve 'Ballmer's partner,' a week before $1.75 million was paid to Kawhi."
The NBA has hired an outside law firm to handle its investigation into Aspiration, the Clippers and the endorsement deal with Leonard. While the court of public opinion is in overdrive, Silver wants the league's investigation to be completed before he and the other owners discuss any punishment for the Clippers — and Silver wanted evidence beyond the circumstantial.
"We and our investigators look at the totality of the evidence... I would be reluctant to act if there was sort of a mere appearance of impropriety," Silver said. "I think that the goal of a full investigation is to find out if there really was impropriety."
Ballmer and the Clippers can again claim plausible deniability here: Wong made a small investment in a company where his daughter worked to help prop them up, neither he nor the team knew anything about late payments to Leonard or anything to do with the endorsement deal. If Silver is holding out for a paper trail — an email where Ballmer or Wong make sure money gets to Lonard and Uncle Dennis — that is not going to exist, Ballmer is too smart to have done so (there was this kind of paper trail in 2000 when the league came down hard on the Timberwolves for circumventing the salary cap with Joe Smith). The Clippers can argue that this is something Aspiration and Uncle Dennis cooked up and they knew nothing.
However, the tsunami of circumstantial evidence and the timing of all of it — including Wong's investment — is hard to ignore and brush aside as nothing. It's going to be difficult for the other owners — who are unhappy with the thought that the richest of them circumvented the cap, giving the league a black eye — to say nothing happened here.
This has become a story that is not going away and will carry into the start of the NBA season, a dark cloud the league will not be happy about.
While this time of year may be purgatory for Knicks fans eagerly awaiting the new season, their team is hard at work preparing for it. The offseason offers talent a chance to build on itself, taking players, and by association their teams, to new heights.
Here’s one improvement we’d like to see from each returning rotation Knick going into the 2025-26 NBA season. There’s hopes of big leaps from Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti, Kevin McCullar Jr. and Pacome Dadiet, the group of returning sophomores who saw limited action on the court last season for various reasons.
Jalen Brunson: Leveraging his off-ball game and playmaking
Brunson’s unstoppable isolation and pick-and-roll bucket-getting is the invaluable force behind his ascension and postseason success, but even the brightest stars know the value of the easy score and simple pass. He’s no ball hog, but the offense could get bogged down in Brunson ball for stretches, and seemed to lean on that more as the year progressed and their efficiency declined.
Some of that may be coaching, and we’ll see exactly how much soon enough. Armed with a new playbook and the best weapons of his career, there’s no excuse for Brunson not to bump his respectable 7.3 assists a game to a nine or even ten with the attention he draws.
Some of these players have been plagued by the same issues (pick-and-roll IQ, passing out of drives and post-ups) for years on end and expecting a sudden change now maybe wishful thinking. In that spirit, let’s offer a new and simple twist that could help open things up instead of trying to patch some forever hole in somebody’s game.
Towns often gets caught hard-driving into bigs without a plan beyond getting to the cup, leading to charges or wild misses and pleas for whistles. He won’t become a Tyrese Haliburton-level weak-side passer, but he is mobile enough to add stopping his drives for a jumper or short hook to his repertoire - two shots he likes and can counter defenders over-playing his physicality with.
In that same vein, Anunoby’s been trying to develop his ball-handling, post-up and isolation scoring a la Kawhi Leonard. One shot he should be able to pluck from his game relatively easily is a face-up one-on-one three.
Defenders are already prone to wall up on Anunoby’s drives and he’s a much more natural shooter set than in motion, so he should play to his current skills and deficiencies by adding this look. He’s got the size and touch to hit contested looks and has flirted with this shot in the past, but adding it as a full-time weapon would open up his offense even further.
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) and forward OG Anunoby (8) speak in the third quarter during game six of the eastern conference finals against the Indiana Pacers for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Hart is an absolute menace on the ball in transition, and when he decides to go coast-to-coast sometimes looks unstoppable. Unfortunately that control and effectiveness doesn’t carry over 1:1 in the halfcourt, where the Knicks often looked lost trying to dribble the ball if Brunson wasn’t doing it.
They addressed that by signing Jordan Clarkson, but it’ll take more than one extra guard to diversify the handling attack. It should be Hart that steps up, arguably boasting the best handle and passing combination of last year’s three starting wings, but maybe with more chances to show it under a new head coach this time around.
We’ll take the easy answer here. When Bridges fidgeted with his form last offseason, he unlocked some high-level mid-range mastery but cooked his three-point accuracy from everywhere but the corners.
Fixing that will be pivotal as it would turn Bridges from a good shooter to one of the best in the league, and give him another weapon in the pick-and-roll, where the Knicks need some ammunition.
The Deuce post-breakout Sixth Man of the Year campaign was afflicted by multiple injuries, turning what was supposed to be a renaissance into a rocky season for the backup guard. He ended up with a decent shooting year and solid postseason effort, but for some reason his finishing around the rim abandoned him in 2024-25.
Getting that touch back will be pivotal this year, as McBride could be pining for a starting job, or fending off competition taking his minutes in Clarkson and Kolek.
The answer is obviously free throw shooting, but to switch things up, Robinson’s pick-and-rolls can sometimes be a little hollow in opening up action for Brunson. It can get him a switch or clear a runway, but he’s not a big lob-thrower and Robinson doesn’t do much other than catch those or position himself for offensive rebounds.
Robinson should try to set more Gortat screens (a second screen following the first on his own man) to mix in something different. Could open up more looks for Brunson, and Robinson still puts a body on immediately to get in putback position.
Before the action commences, we’re looking at key questions for the 2025-26 Sixers. First up: Are the Sixers about to enter a true youth movement?
By the end of their miserable 2024-25 season, the Sixers were exceedingly light on experienced players.
That was not by design. With a roster full of season-ending injuries, the Sixers were forced to rely on youngsters and fringe NBA players to finish out their schedule.
Still, it’s not a stretch to say that the quality of the Sixers’ youth is a serious positive entering the 2025-26 campaign. Excluding two-way contracts, the team currently has seven players 24 years old or under:
VJ Edgecombe — 20
Jared McCain — 21
Justin Edwards — 21
Adem Bona — 22
Johni Broome — 23
Tyrese Maxey — 24
Trendon Watford — 24
“If everything sets up well, we’ll have a younger, more dynamic roster around a healthy Joel (Embiid), Tyrese and Paul (George),” Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said at his end-of-season press conference.
It’s difficult to imagine the Sixers making a dramatic jump from last season without Embiid and George being much healthier. However, it’s not hard to envision multiple young players taking fun leaps that meaningfully change the complexion of the team.
“Everything happens for a reason,” McCain said at his exit interview. “God doesn’t make mistakes and I know the universe has put me in this position to be injured to learn something. I know I’m destined for something great.
“I read the book ‘The Obstacle Is The Way.’ … Just trying to create any advantage through all the adversity that you go through. There’s a saying … ‘Amor fati.’ Just love everything that comes, even the negative. Love everything that comes your way and you’ll find your way back in the positive.
“So I just try to take that every single day and live with gratitude. I’m huge on that. I know I’ll be fine. I know I’ll get back to where I was, even better. Just got to be patient and be present.”
