Category: Sixers/NBA

The 76ers are bringing guard Cam Payne back to Philly as a pickup off the buyout market, a source confirmed Monday. The deal was first reported by SteinLine’s Marc Stein.

Partizan Belgrade in Serbia announced Payne’s departure on social media, sharing a post that revealed his $1.75 million buyout. The Sixers can contribute only $875,000 to his release, Stein reports.

Payne played with the Sixers in 2024 and averaged 9.3 points and 3.1 assists in 31 games. Team president Daryl Morey traded Patrick Beverley to Milwaukee in exchange for Payne and a second-rounder before the 2024 trade deadline.

He served as a bench spark plug and offensive boost behind Tyrese Maxey. Payne, 31, should be expected to take on a similar role after the Sixers traded second-year guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder before the NBA trade deadline.

A 10-year NBA veteran, Payne also has played for the Thunder, Bulls, Cavaliers, Suns, Bucks, and Knicks.

The move strengthens a position the Sixers considered one of their strong points entering the season. With Maxey, McCain, VJ Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes in the backcourt to start the season, the Sixers expected their backcourt to carry them as stars Joel Embiid and Paul George rounded into form. Both players ended up being ahead of schedule as Embiid morphed back into All-Star form and George provided a steady hand as a key defender and ballhandler.

But with George suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and McCain with the Thunder, the Sixers need reinforcements for the stretch run after All-Star break. Payne could provide that in short spurts.

LOS ANGELES — While strolling through the NBA Crossover fan extravaganza inside the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday afternoon, a young man wearing a Cooper Flagg Duke jersey suddenly realized the NBA player with whom he had randomly crossed paths.

“That’s Tyrese Maxey!” the fan excitedly told his companion.

That moment illustrated how Maxey’s popularity has ballooned beyond Philly, where he has long been beloved while rapidly ascending into a 76ers cornerstone and two-time All-Star. Before stepping inside Intuit Dome on Sunday afternoon, Maxey had already received the fourth-highest total of All-Star fan votes and was named an Eastern Conference starter for this weekend’s main event. And that status as one of league’s up-and-coming faces was showcased throughout the celebratory weekend, culminating with Maxey’s nine points and three steals for the “young and turnt” Team Stars’ victory over Team Stripes in the championship game of a surprisingly competitive round-robin tournament.

“I feel a lot less out of place,” Maxey said when asked about how this weekend felt different from his first All-Star appearance in 2024. “[Two years ago, I] was nervous. It’s your first time. You don’t know when to talk, when not to talk. Now I walk into the locker room of my team, I was the second-oldest [at 25].

“I played against those guys growing up as kids, and it was really fun to be in the locker room.”

Maxey’s widespread prominence is perhaps unsurprising, given his combination of statistical production, playing style and personality.

His numbers place him in the MVP conversation, coming out of the All-Star break ranking sixth in the NBA in scoring (28.9 points per game) while adding 6.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.0 steals. He plays an aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball for diehards and casuals alike, as a speedy guard who explodes to the basket, launches from three-point range, and has become a legitimate defensive disruptor. And he regularly flashes a grin even in the heat of competition.

The “That’s Tyrese Maxey” whispers — or exclamations — continued as he moved through the convention center on Friday. One fan who recognized him was wearing a LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers shirt. Another was in Boston Celtics green. Others waited in line to meet Maxey inside an Xfinity pop-up digital experience — where his face was displayed all over the exterior — or as he signed blue Sixers jerseys inside a DoorDash booth.

Back at the Intuit Dome, Maxey was on a parking garage billboard also featuring San Antonio Spurs global superstar Victor Wembanyama. And during Saturday’s media day, Maxey was assigned to a formal news conference room — which are typically reserved for the most in-demand players — instead of the mixed-zone scrums.

As Maxey walked into the standing-room-only crowd, he uttered, “Wow.”

“I don’t want to trip and fall,” Maxey said, walking across the stage, “and embarrass myself with all these people here.”

Maxey first noticed his popularity had extended beyond Sixers supporters around his fourth NBA season, when he was so stunned to see his jersey in places besides Philly and his hometown of Dallas that he called his mother, Denyse. (His jersey sales this season ranked 10th in the NBA as of last month, the league announced.) And when informed last month that he had received more All-Star fan votes than any American player — yes, even topping all-time greats James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant — he was taken aback.

“Oh, thanks fellow Americans!” Maxey said, leaning back in his locker-room chair. “Appreciate y’all, man. That’s love.”

It is all quite the rise since Maxey trained in Los Angeles in preparation for the 2020 NBA draft, when the Sixers took him 21st overall.

He seized the opportunity when thrust into the starting point guard job during Ben Simmons’ 2021-22 holdout. He won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in 2023, then became a first-time All-Star the following season. He thrived as former MVP Joel Embiid’s two-man partner. He further boosted himself on a big stage with a masterful 46-point performance at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 of the Sixers’ 2024 first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks.

As an All-Star newbie in 2024, Maxey appreciated getting to know players from other teams in a laid-back environment. This year, he felt a sense of familiarity with Team Stars, which was also made up of All-Star MVP Anthony Edwards along with Scottie Barnes, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Johnson. He sat courtside as Sixers teammate VJ Edgecombe won Rising Stars MVP on Friday night, then participated in Saturday’s three-point contest for the first time.

When Holmgren, a first-time All-Star, asked Maxey for advice on what to expect Sunday, he compared it to the McDonald’s High School All American Game.

“You don’t want nobody to have bragging rights on you,” Maxey said. “That’s how I feel about it.”

Maxey finished Team Stars’ overtime victory over Team World with four points, three rebounds, and two assists — and a tone-setting hustle play when he saved a ball from going out of bounds by throwing it backward over his head. He added two points in his team’s loss in its first matchup against Team Stripes, which also came down to the last shot.

In the championship rematch, Maxey took Durant off the dribble for a layup, then stole the inbounds pass and buried a three-pointer. Later, he blew past James for another finish and collected a steal and a dish to Barnes for a breakaway dunk.

“I want to play it like a real game, anyway,” Maxey said. “It’s better for me.”

Maxey arrived for his postgame media session carrying a fancy box holding his All-Star ring which, when opened, also played a video of his highlights. He was ready to get some rest during the next few days before the regular-season’s stretch run for a Sixers team in sixth place in the East standings.

But this weekend, he lived up to his status as a leader of the NBA’s “young and turnt” American stars — and one of the up-and-coming faces of the league as a whole.

“I definitely think that we are ready to try to step it forward,” Maxey said. “We had a lot of guys in that locker room that are ready to take the next step.”

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Minutes after he left the Intuit Dome court Saturday afternoon, Tyrese Maxey rattled off everything he would do differently in the All-Star three-point contest.

The 76ers’ guard would start on the opposite corner, so he could take his “money ball” rack balls from his right side. He also would squeeze in at least one practice run, which he could not manage this past week between the Sixers’ return home from a five-game Western Conference road trip and another cross-country flight to Los Angeles.

Maxey’s 17 points were not enough to move on to the final, which the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard eventually won with a score of 29.

He joked that the fact that he “didn’t even get 20” points will haunt him for the next year. Still, competing in All-Star Saturday’s showcase event was gratifying for Maxey, who has transformed from a player whose three-point shooting was knocked coming out of college to one of the NBA’s most lethal from beyond the arc.

“I just wanted to see what it was going to be like my first time,” Maxey said. “I’ll definitely come back and try to win it, for sure.”

Maxey entered the All-Star break shooting 37.9% on 8.8 three-point attempts per game, which is tied for seventh in the NBA. He is proud of the variety of ways he now can get to that shot, by creating off the dribble or shaking free to catch and fire.

Yet Maxey was not always this feared from deep range. He shot 29.2% from three during his one season at Kentucky, leading to numerous questions from NBA front offices during the pre-draft process. Maxey’s father, Tyrone, recently recalled to The Inquirer a workout when Tyrese made 33 consecutive three-pointers and the unnamed NBA team “still passed on him.”

“Most [general managers] were like, ‘Man, you play the game with a joy, but you can’t shoot,’” Maxey said. “I’m like, ‘I can shoot.’”

The Sixers’ front office, meanwhile, believed in Maxey’s form and “secondary indicators” of NBA shooting success, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in 2021. Former coach Doc Rivers often shared publicly that he was regularly bamboozled that Maxey was accurate inside the Sixers’ practice facility, but made only 30.1% of his 1.7 attempts as a rookie.

However, confidence instilled by the coaching staff encouraged Maxey to launch more. The next two seasons, his percentages catapulted above 40%, while increasing that volume, as his overall offensive responsibilities blossomed.

His percentage dipped to 33.7% during the Sixers’ disastrous 2024-25, primarily due to an injured little finger that prematurely ended his season. His efficiency is back to normal this season, with the freedom from Sixers coach Nick Nurse to take even deeper shots — particularly while in transition.

When asked to partake in the All-Star three-point competition as a first-time All-Star two years ago, Maxey turned it down because he was “nervous” and wanted to soak in the full weekend of festivities. This year, it was a no-brainer.

He said he felt some jitters while being introduced at center court, then anxious while waiting for the five competitors’ trip around the arc before his.

“I wanted to shoot, man,” Maxey said, before a performance he described as “a little cold.”

Once eliminated, Maxey watched as Lillard and the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker put on a show in a scorching 29-27 final. An NBC television camera caught Maxey, hands on his head and mouth agape, as Booker’s potential tying final corner shot bounced off the rim.

Then Maxey praised Lillard, whom he noticed shooting deep three-pointers while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon when the Sixers visited Portland last week.

“That was amazing,” Maxey said. “ … He’s a legend in our league. Still hooping. Still playing the right way. Love seeing him out there.”

Plenty still awaits this weekend for Maxey, who will start for the U.S. “Stars” team in Sunday’s All-Star game (5 p.m., NBC10, Peacock).

But he is already eager for the 2027 three-point contest.

“That was really fun,” he said. “I can’t wait to try that again.”

LOS ANGELES — As VJ Edgecombe stepped to the free-throw line with the opportunity to win the Rising Stars championship at All-Star Weekend, he felt “no pressure.”

The stakes, to be fair, were far lower than any NBA game Edgecombe has played in so far. Yet even in the ultimately meaningless environment, the 76ers rookie guard reiterated he “really hates losing.” So Edgecombe focused and sank both foul shots, then opened his arms wide to greet beaming Sixers teammate Tyrese Maxey sitting courtside.

Edgecombe’s game-winning free throws lifted his Team Vince to a 25-24 victory over Team Melo in the mini tournament final Friday night at Intuit Dome. That came on the heels of Edgecombe’s 17-point effort against Team T-Mac in the semis, including 10 in a row and the clinching step-back jumper to seal that win.

The two-game performance made Edgecombe a unanimous choice for the event’s MVP award, and spearheaded a group of youngsters who may have injected some competitiveness back into the recently maligned All-Star festivities.

Consider it the latest accomplishment in a terrific rookie season for Edgecombe, who has become an immediate starter and impact player on both ends of the floor for a Sixers team in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

“I just wanted to go out there and show everyone that I can hoop — regardless of stage,” Edgecombe said. “I just want to go out there and play basketball. I enjoy it. I enjoy playing basketball. I hope I showcased that tonight.”

Edgecombe foreshadowed his intentions earlier Friday. When asked at his media session if he would take a “laid-back” approach to the night’s tournament or as if he had “something to prove,” Edgecombe grinned and responded with, “still compete, so we’ll see how that goes.”

And how Friday night unfolded for Edgecombe, the former third overall draft pick, mirrored several of his games so far with the Sixers: He caught fire down the stretch.

A corner three-pointer got Edgecombe going in the semifinal matchup against Team T-Mac. He buried two more deep shots to put Team Vince up, 37-29, then converted a crafty finish and celebrated with his teammates on the bench. When he dribbled to his right and elevated for the mid-range shot to secure the 41-36 win — the first team to hit 40 points in each semifinal moved on — Edgecombe pointed at Maxey and then emphatically nodded at the camera while strutting down the court. He added five rebounds to the 6-for-8 shooting.

“My teammates were swinging the rock,” Edgecombe said. “My teammates were passing the ball, and I was open. … Then I was coming off the pick-and-roll, whatever it is, 1-on-1. Just go up there and try to get a bucket.”

In the abbreviated final against Team Melo — when 25 points was the “target score” — Edgecombe initially got free behind the defense for a transition dunk. Then he finished a putback that put his team up, 23-22, before drawing a foul on a drive to the basket to set up his championship-sealing free throws.

In between those buckets, Edgecombe also flashed his knack for smart basketball plays to complement his high-flying athleticism, while averaging 14.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals with the Sixers entering the All-Star break.

He corralled a one-handed rebound, and pushed the pace with his own speed and kick-ahead passes. He opened the semifinal game guarding the sharpshooting Kon Knueppel, another standout rookie.

Perhaps most fitting for the player who entered the break ranked 10th in the NBA in minutes (35.4 per game): When Edgecombe thought he was coming out of the final when coach Vince Carter made a couple substitutions, Carter playfully pushed Edgecombe back onto the court.

Edgecombe’s on-court showcase was one highlight of his first All-Star weekend.

He called getting to sit next to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar “fire,” another indicator of his deep knowledge of the NBA’s history. He chopped it up with Rising Stars coach Carmelo Anthony, father of his former teammate Kiyan Anthony, at the end of Friday morning’s practice. He got sucked into the whirlwind media circuit that ranged from a high-profile NBA TV interview, to an unserious rapid-fire guessing game to match a fellow Rising Star to the appropriate emoji.

“It’s a lot of attention,” Edgecombe said. “A lot of attention.”

But Edgecombe felt a responsibility to Carter, who drafted him first for this event and then encouraged their whole team, “Why not just play hard?” instead of floating through the night. Seeing Maxey courtside provided Edgecombe with a final motivational boost.

“He ain’t coming to watch it if I ain’t going to play hard,” Edgecombe thought to himself. “I didn’t want to waste his time.”

The full experience inspired Edgecombe to someday stay through the weekend to participate in Sunday’s All-Star game. But after his endless appearances bled into some actual — competitive! — basketball, Edgecombe acknowledged, “I’m tired, and I’m ready to go home now.”

He will leave Los Angeles with some MVP hardware, providing further evidence of the terrific start to his NBA career.

The life of an NBA draft pick can be a long and winding road — long before a team ever considers which player they might take with that selection. Picks are traded years in advance, and by the time draft night actually comes around, many have changed hands two or even three times.

One of those long and winding roads led the Sixers to young superstar Tyrese Maxey, who will make his first NBA All-Star Game start and second appearance on Sunday. Maxey is having a career-best season, leading the Sixers firmly back into the playoff race as he’s become the team’s No. 1 scoring option.

But the journey to acquire Maxey started long before Adam Silver called his name on that stage in 2020, five months after the draft was originally supposed to take place — and more than six years after the wheels were initially set in motion by the Spencer Hawes trade.

Here’s everything that happened in order for the Sixers to ultimately draft Maxey …

Feb. 20, 2014: The Sixers were in the early stages of The Process, selling off players to stockpile as many draft picks as possible. In one of those moves, then general manager Sam Hinkie acquired Earl Clark, Henry Sims, and two second-round picks (Cleveland’s and Memphis’) from the Cavaliers for Hawes.

June 26, 2014: The Sixers used one of those picks to draft Jerami Grant with the No. 39 overall pick (initially Cleveland’s pick). Grant was a role player for the Sixers for a little over two seasons, averaging 8.2 points in 24.2 minutes, but went on to have a long NBA career — he’s still playing — and turned into a starter that has eclipsed the 20-point per game mark three times.

Nov. 1, 2016: Two games into the 2016-17 season, the Sixers traded Grant to acquire veteran forward Ersan Ilyasova and Oklahoma City’s 2020 first-round pick. The pick was top-20 protected, meaning it would only convey if the Thunder finished with the 21st draft pick or lower.

June 22, 2017: The Sixers traded that 2020 pick and Brooklyn’s 2020 second-round pick to Orlando for the draft rights to Latvian center Anžejs Pasečņiks. Pasečņiks, now 30, played just 28 games in the NBA with Washington.

Feb. 7, 2019: The Sixers reacquired the 2020 first-round pick from Orlando — along with Jonathon Simmons and the rights to Cleveland’s second-rounder — for Markelle Fultz. The Sixers had traded up to first overall in 2017 to draft Fultz, who struggled with injuries and played just 33 games across two seasons for the team.

March 2020: COVID-19 canceled the NCAA Tournament. Maxey was playing for John Calipari at Kentucky, who won the regular season SEC championship and was poised to earn a top-2 seed in the NCAA tournament. That meant Maxey, who averaged 14 points in the regular season, wouldn’t get a chance to showcase his skills on college basketball’s biggest stage. The shutdown also impacted Maxey’s opportunity to meet in person with NBA teams during the pre-draft process.

Aug. 12, 2020: Former Sixer Mike Muscala hit a pair of late three-pointers to lift the Thunder over the Heat in Oklahoma City’s penultimate game in the NBA’s “COVID bubble.” The win pushed the Thunder ahead of the Heat in the standings and out of the top 20 in the draft order, ensuring the Sixers would secure the first-round pick that originally belonged to OKC.

Nov. 18, 2020: Maxey falls to the Sixers with the 21st pick after 19 other teams — including the Timberwolves twice — passed on the Kentucky guard.

The NBA All-Star break has finally arrived for the Sixers, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the team’s three most important pieces: Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe.

“I think everybody’s looking forward to it,” coach Nick Nurse said of the time off. “I think we need it. It’ll be pretty good timing for us.”

Yes, Wednesday’s 138-89 loss to the New York Knicks was embarrassing, but despite the Sixers’ ups and downs this season, they are firmly in a playoff spot. Still, the Sixers need a physical and mental reset, even if some of their stars won’t be entirely off.

Maxey will be heading to Los Angeles as an All-Star Game starter, with Edgecombe in tow to play in the Rising Stars game. But Embiid will have a full, much-needed weeklong break.

Embiid missed his second consecutive game Wednesday with right knee soreness. Quentin Grimes also missed Wednesday’s game, while Dominick Barlow, who missed the final game of the road trip at Portland, returned to play 30 minutes, 37 seconds on Wednesday.

Nurse said before Wednesday’s game that there was “not a ton of concern” about Embiid’s knee long-term.

Embiid has appeared in 31 of the Sixers’ 54 games so far this year, skipping one leg of back-to-backs and missing most of November. But since that month, Embiid has quickly rounded back into form.

“He’ll still tell you that he’s — I don’t know, you can have him tell you — but still not near 100%, not close,” Nurse said. “I think that’s encouraging because he’s starting to look pretty good again in a lot of different areas.”

Some might consider Embiid’s exclusion from the All-Star Game a snub, but because of the break, the Sixers don’t play again until Feb. 19.

That’s a full week for Embiid to stay off his knee and recover while the Sixers can stay locked into their sixth-place spot in the East. Since January, the Sixers are 12-5 with Embiid in the lineup, and 1-5 without him.

“It’s hard,” Maxey said of playing without Embiid. “You go from one way to play without him early in the season, he comes back, you’ve got to play that way, then play a different way when he’s there — which is OK, it’s fine. It’s the reality of it, and we’ll be all right. I think he’ll be here more than he isn’t here when we get back, and we’ve just got to maintain those games that he’s not there.”

It’s not just Embiid who can benefit from the time off. Edgecombe will be competing in the Rising Stars event at All-Star Weekend, but the rookie, who has played in 50 of the Sixers’ 54 games, will get a brief, needed reprieve from the grind of the NBA schedule.

“He’s never played these type of minutes in his life,” Maxey said. “Even playing a 40-minute basketball game in college is way different than this. … We’re asking him to do a lot, so he’s probably definitely tired, but it’s OK. This is what the break is for.”

Entering the final game before the break, Edgecombe averaged 35.4 minutes, the most of any rookie, and ranked ninth in the NBA. Edgecombe played just 33 games at Baylor last year.

Edgecombe ended Wednesday night with 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting, displaying his incredible physical tools and his recent shooting woes. Early in his career, Maxey learned how seriously he needs to take recovery in order to keep playing big NBA minutes.

“I used to be like, ‘I don’t need treatment.’ I thought I was Superman,” Maxey said.

He’s making sure Edgecombe is taking that feedback.

But there might not be anyone on the team who needs rest more than Maxey. He has taken on the role as the Sixers’ top offensive option, and he is playing a career- and league-high 38.6 minutes per game.

Maxey has also made 52 starts and played the most games of anyone on the Sixers. He scored 32 points in 32:07 on Wednesday but sat for the entire fourth quarter of the blowout. He’ll get a little less rest than his teammates, since he’s making his first All-Star Game start — and taking part in Saturday night’s three-point contest — but said he still would make plenty of time for relaxation.

“I just want to get out there and just chill, sit in my hotel room, relax, get some good weather,” Maxey said. “I’ll get some relaxation and be good to go by Thursday.”