Since staying mostly quite through the first evening of this summer’s NBA free agency period, the Philadelphia 76ers are all of a sudden making some noise. After agreeing to re-sign guard Furkan Korkmaz to a three-year $15 million deal on Monday night, the team made a pair of decisions on Tuesday.
First, they announced that they are planning to waive point guard George Hill – who was on a partially guaranteed contract – and then they shocked fans and experts everywhere by coming to terms with big man Andre Drummond on a one-year agreement. Philly also signed Georges Niang to a two-year, $6.7 million contract on Tuesday.
With Korkmaz coming back and Drummond and Niang joining the squad, Hill, and also Dwight Howard are set to leave. One other key cog from the 2020-2021 roster who has very likely seen his last game in a Sixers uniform is Danny Green, who has become a very hot commodity.
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Have also been told the #Lakers have interest in Danny Green, which @ChrisBHaynes reported yesterday.
Danny Green has spoken with the Sixers over the past 24 hours multiple times. The sides are nowhere close to a deal.
Representatives from Milwaukee, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans are among some of the team that have reached out.
Green has a pre-existing relationship with Ime Udoka and Mike Budenholzer stemming back from his Spurs ties.
With that many teams apparently interested in Green, and with the Sixers reportedly “nowhere close to a deal” with him, the odds don’t seem to be in Philadelphia’s favor for bringing back the 34-year-old.
Where Will Green Go if He Leaves Philadelphia?
GettyDanny Green of the Philadelphia 76ers during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in March.
Former Sixers assistant Ime Udoka was tabbed as the new head coach of the Boston Celtics in June, while Budenholzer just helped lead the Milwaukee Bucks to their first NBA title in 50 years, so Boston and Milwaukee could be two of the favorites to land Green this summer.
Other teams that are targeting the three-time NBA-champion, according to Sanford, Schultz, or other reports, include the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, and Miami Heat.
The Heat’s pursuit of Green may have “cooled” off a bit over the last 48 hours though, as they have since made a flurry of moves, including picking up Kyle Lowry and P.J. Tucker, while bringing back Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo among others.
If Green is looking to go to a contender, of the teams that have expressed interest – outside of Miami – his best bets might be the Bucks or Lakers, who Green won a championship with in 2020. Don’t count out the Bulls though, who have already had a huge off-season, adding DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball to a team that already had Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
An Unfortunate Close to a Solid Year With the Sixers for Green
GettyDanny Green of the Philadelphia 76ers during a playoff game against the Atlanta Hawks in June.
It looked for a while that the UNC product was going to pull of the stunning feat of winning three straight NBA championships with three different teams in 2021, after he earned the 2019 crown with the Toronto Raptors and the 2020 title with the Lakers. As the No. 1 seed though, Green and the Sixers ran into trouble with a feisty Atlanta Hawks squad, who eliminated Philly in a seven-game classic, which set off all of the Ben Simmons trade rumors and demands.
Unfortunately for Green, not only did his team lose earlier than anticipated in the postseason, but he wasn’t even able to take the court for the final four games of the season, as a strained right calf suffered in Game Three knocked the sharpshooter out for the remainder of the series. That may have very well been Green’s final game in a Sixers uniform as well.
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Sixers Free Agent Drawing Interest From Celtics, Lakers Among Others