Ryan Broekhoff was on the verge of playing for the Sixers during the NBA’s restart at Disney World.
Months later, even with a new front office regime and a new head coach, the Sixers still liked what he brought to the table. The team has agreed to a deal with the 30-year-old Australian wing, a source confirmed Tuesday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news. A source told NBC Sports Philadelphia that Broekhoff’s contract is a non-guaranteed deal for this year.
Broekhoff never traveled with the Sixers to Orlando after his wife tested positive for COVID-19. He was excited about the prospect of joining the team, in part because of Brett Brown, who was then serving as head coach of both the Sixers and the Australian Boomers.
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“I still feel like I’m on the cusp of finding somewhere steady in the NBA, and hopefully that’ll be Philly,” he said on July 1.
Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has valued shooting this offseason, and that’s what Broekhoff does best. Over two seasons with the Mavericks, he made 40.3 percent of his three-point attempts. Of his 185 NBA field goal attempts, 144 have been threes.
At the moment, it’s a somewhat crowded wing picture for the Sixers, with Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz and Terrance Ferguson among the players who project as factors off the bench. As Broekhoff's non-guaranteed deal suggests, regular playing time won't be a sure thing for him.
Back in July, Broekhoff envisioned his game complementing Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid well.
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“I think the fitting in should be pretty seamless,” he said. “You’ve got Ben, you’ve got Embiid. They demand attention in and around the post area, and the best way to mitigate that is to surround them with shooting options and people that can spread the floor.
"So hopefully I can be one of those (players) who keeps my man occupied and lets the big guys do what they do down close to the rim. Ben 1-on-1 in the post is basically unstoppable, so the more chances we can get Ben 1-on-1, the better the team will be.”
The Sixers evidently remain on the same page and continue to believe that Broekhoff and his marksmanship have a chance to help.