James Harden is taking less with hopes the Philadelphia 76ers can do more.
A person familiar with the situation said Harden chose not to exercise his $47.4 million option for next season and will become a free agent — but with no designs on leaving Philadelphia.
Let the talking begin. The trading, too, and eventually the signing.
Free agency officially opens Thursday in the NBA, with teams able to begin negotiating at 6 p.m. Eastern with players who are not under contract — although, in reality, free agency and the slew of offseason movement is already off and running.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Billionaire sports businessman David Blitzer has officially joined the Cleveland Guardians as a minority owner and will eventually take control of the ballclub.
The team announced its agreement with Blitzer and his investment group on Monday, the final step in him taking a minority stake in the American League team.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies announced Friday the final pieces of their draft night trade sending guard De'Anthony Melton to the Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to forward David Roddy and wing Danny Green.
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers traded the rights to the 23rd overall pick of Thursday night's NBA draft and Danny Green to the Memphis Grizzlies for De’Anthony Melton, said a person with knowledge of the situation.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Fanatics founder Michael Rubin is selling his stake in the company that owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Their name changed, and now the Cleveland Guardians appear on the way to a switch in ownership.
Major League Baseball approved the sale of a minority stake in the team to David Blitzer, whose sports holdings include ownership shares in the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid had surgeries for a sprained right thumb and an injury to his left index finger.
The 76ers, who were knocked out of the playoffs by the Miami Heat, announced the surgeries on Tuesday.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The first piece of the 76ers’ offseason is set: Doc Rivers will return to coach next season, early exits and all. Another question mark seems somewhat settled, James Harden wants to stay in Philly and the Sixers want him back.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jimmy Butler knocked Joel Embiid out of the playoffs, then walked over to his former 76ers teammate and hugged him, told him he loved him and was proud of him.
Butler then headed out of a familiar court a winner — and straight into another conference finals with Miami.
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 33 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 113-86 on Thursday night to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals.
The home team has won all six games, none with a final margin closer than seven points.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid took a shot to the face that not even his mask could help him absorb. He went down in a heap and stayed on the court in pain until he could compose himself.
Game 5 would get worse in so many ways for Embiid and the 76ers.
MIAMI (AP) — Shots fell again for the Miami Heat. They kept Joel Embiid and James Harden in check. Their coach got an in-game massage from DJ Khaled.
Yes, really.
It was that sort of night for the Heat, who — even without everyone getting shoulder rubs — are feeling pretty good about their playoff prospects again.
MIAMI (AP) — Kyle Lowry's strained left hamstring has sent him back to the bench.
Lowry's leg issue forced the Miami Heat to rule out their starting point guard for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Phoenix's Chris Paul was livid. Miami's Kyle Lowry was limping.
The playoffs are getting tougher for the No. 1 seeds, and issues with their point guards are part of the reason why.
Phoenix and Miami find themselves in big-time fights now, after both took 2-0 leads in their respective conference semifinal series and then went 0-2 on the road.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — James Harden took a sensational step forward in the postseason for the 76ers with step-back 3s that rekindled his dominant form. Joel Embiid is playing better by the game, and the MVP finalist might have his best basketball ahead.
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 26 points and the Dallas Mavericks took advantage of foul trouble for Chris Paul to beat the Phoenix Suns 111-101 on Sunday, evening the Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers were fined $50,000 by the NBA on Saturday for violating league injury reporting rules in failing to disclose Joel Embiid’s participation status in an accurate and timely manner.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid's final line in the box score looked a bit pedestrian compared to his usual MVP numbers. But the Philadelphia 76ers center played Game 3 anyway. With a thumb that needs a surgery.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid inspired Philadelphia with his return from a facial injury, Danny Green and Tyrese Maxey each scored 21 points and the 76ers beat the Miami Heat 99-79 on Friday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid spent the week groggy from a concussion. His busted thumb needs surgery.
MVP form? Not yet. But Embiid wore his black mask and injected the 76ers — and a skittish fanbase - with revitalized championship aspirations.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is in the starting lineup for Game 3 of the playoff series Friday against Miami after sitting out the first two games with a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion.
MIAMI (AP) — Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers would probably need hours to explain everything that he’s learned from Miami President Pat Riley over the last three decades.
MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo caught a lob for an alley-oop dunk midway through the fourth quarter, then threw a lob to Jimmy Butler for another dunk about a minute later.
Both were very easy.
Joel Embiid could complicate those plays going forward — and the Miami Heat are heading north expecting that he might be waiting for them.
PHOENIX (AP) — The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are top seeds in the NBA playoffs and at the moment they look like it, coming off impressive performances.
Both have a chance to take 2-0 leads in their respective series on Wednesday and are strong favorites to get it done, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
MIAMI (AP) — There’s nobody on the Miami Heat roster that knows Philadelphia guard James Harden better than P.J. Tucker.
They got further acquainted in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
PHOENIX (AP) — Deandre Ayton scored 25 points, Devin Booker added 23 and the top-seeded Phoenix Suns rolled to a 121-114 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro had spent the last few days dealing with an upper-respiratory bug that disrupted his routine. So he arrived at Miami's arena early Monday morning, 10 hours before gametime, to get some shots up and restore his rhythm.
MIAMI (AP) — In Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s mind, the injury situation with Joel Embiid doesn’t doom the Philadelphia 76ers.
Preview capsule for the Miami-Philadelphia Eastern Conference semifinal series that starts Sunday:
No. 1 MIAMI HEAT (53-29, 4-1) vs. No. 4 PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (51-31, 4-2)
MIAMI (AP) — The best that Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers could offer Saturday about Joel Embiid’s possible availability for the Eastern Conference semifinal series against Miami was a two-word answer.
MIAMI (AP) — Joel Embiid feared this would be the case. Turns out, he was right.
The Philadelphia 76ers announced Friday night that Embiid — the NBA scoring champion and an MVP finalist — has a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion.
TORONTO (AP) — For the Toronto Raptors to return to championship contention, they’ll need Scottie Barnes to progress from a Rookie of the Year winner to an All-NBA talent.
Among his Toronto teammates, there’s no doubt Barnes has the ability to make that evolution happen.
A few hours before Game 6 of his team’s first-round series in Toronto got started on Thursday night, Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers was busy watching film.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Chris Paul went 14 for 14 in the best shooting night in NBA playoff history, Devin Booker returned from a hamstring injury to hit a late 3-pointer and the Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 on Thursday night to finish off the first-round series in six games.
TORONTO (AP) — James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers are headed for the second round, not home for Game 7.
Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Harden added 22 points and 15 assists and the 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors 132-97 in Game 6 to end their first-round series Thursday night.
The Philadelphia 76ers were up 3-0 in their series against the Toronto Raptors just a few days ago. The lead has since been sliced to 3-2.
That is waking up some echoes for 76ers coach Doc Rivers.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pascal Siakam gave a pregame pep talk to keep the Raptors calm in a hostile Philly environment where they already lost twice and fell into a playoff hole.