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After the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers on March 2, Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal singled out Sixers’ stars Joel Embiid and James Harden for what they’ll have to prove in the postseason on NBA on TNT.
“James needs to win a championship. A lot of people think he doesn’t play well in the playoffs. What are you gonna do, Mr. Harden? And for Joel Embiid, two years in a row, they’re saying you’re the second-best big man. This is your year to show that you are the best big man,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal then made a bold prediction regarding the Sixers’ playoff chances with Embiid and Harden at the wheel.
“I think if those two get motivated and play well and just use those factors as motivations, they can get it done. I’m going with Philly.”
At 40-22, the Sixers are five games behind the Milwaukee Bucks and four and a half games behind the Boston Celtics. With the gap growing between Philadelphia and those two teams, the Sixers will have a mountain to climb to make it out of the Eastern Conference.
Tyrese Maxey Admits Not Knowing if He’ll Continue Starting
The Sixers started Maxey with their full squad available against the Mavericks, which was the first time that’s happened since the Sixers took on the Utah Jazz on January 13. Maxey explained how he found out he was starting again as well as gave his thoughts as to whether things will stay that way.
“I have no idea,” Maxey said when asked if he’d start in the Sixers’ next game against the Bucks, per Ky Carlin of SixersWire. “We came in here, we met at 40 on the clock because it was back-to-back, and my name was on the board matched up next to wherever I was guarding. So that’s when I found out.”
Rivers also explained to reporters why Maxey got the start against the Mavericks after he had spent the previous month and a half leading the second unit.
“We just wanted a quick start,” Rivers explained. “We felt like playing last night (in Miami) that if we can get off to a quick start, it would be great. We did offensively. We just couldn’t get stops. We couldn’t get stops the whole night.
Rivers also admitted that the Sixers will take it game-by-game with the starting lineup.
“I don’t know,” Rivers said. “We go game by game. I’m not worried about that tonight (Thursday).”
Rule Could Jeopardize Harden’s Long-Term Future With Sixers
Bryan Toporek of Liberty Ballers explained how one rule could hurt the Sixers’ leverage in keeping Harden past this season.
“Since the Sixers have full Bird rights on Harden, they would typically be able to offer him both one more year and higher annual raises (8 percent) than any of his free-agent suitors this offseason. However, the ‘Over 38 Rule’ in the current collective bargaining agreement will limit the leverage they have over the Rockets in free-agent negotiations.”
Toporek then detailed the rule itself, and how it could impact negotiations between Harden and the Sixers.
“The Over 38 Rule applies to any contracts that cover four or more seasons, one of which begins after the player turns 38. In that scenario, the ‘aggregate salaries’ covering a season after the player’s 38th birthday ‘shall be attributed to the prior salary-cap years pro rata on the basis of the salaries for such prior salary-cap years.’
“In plain English: The Sixers can only offer Harden a four-year max contract this summer, not a five-year max.”
The Sixers already have the dilemma of deciding to pay Harden a max contract as he approaches his mid-to-late-30s. Having the “Over 38” rule as another obstacle could make it even harder.
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Hall of Famer Has Strong Words For Sixers’ Joel Embiid & James Harden