The Newz

I'm really struggling with a name for this segment, folks. 'Week in Sixers' is too close to 'Week in Review' for my liking, and I refuse to turn back to 'What's Been Happening?' because that just doesn't flow. Thus, we arrive at temporary title no. 3 as you see above.

Whatevs, I'm over it.

Here we go...

Embiid and Simmons in Covid-19 Protocols

Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons came into contact with a barber who tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. Both players were forced to miss Sunday's All-Star proceedings. No other All-Stars had any similar incidents or were unable to participate.

Obviously it would be far from ideal if either player were to miss extended time, but neither Embiid nor Simmons have not tested positive themselves, however the former will be ineligible to play in Philadelphia's first game out of the break against Chicago, and the latter will be ineligible through Friday's game against Washington.

This disconcerting story overshadows what was a feel good Embiid story--the big man announced he would be donating the $100,000 he received for his All-Star nomination to various homeless shelters in Philly. Good move.

Fresh Jerseys

All 16 teams that made the 2020 playoffs are getting 'Earned Edition' jerseys.

Take a look at the Sixers' new threads:

Not especially dynamic, but pretty clean. I can dig it.

P.J. Tucker on Deck, but Lowry Staying Put?

Please make this happen Sixers.

There are rumblings that P.J. Tucker wants to suit up for your friendly local sports team, and some front office authorities around the league think it's set in stone, according to TrueHoop's Tom Haberstroh.

P.J. Tucker would be a tremendous get for this roster. At 35 years old and with well over 20,000 minutes on his body, he isn't the player he was a few seasons ago. His 3-ball hasn't been this low (31.4%) since 2012-2013, and he doesn't quite have the same defensive impact. Then gain, he is playing on a hopeless post-James Harden Rockets team and is clearly disgruntled with his contract. Maybe a midseason deal to a contender would revitalize him.

There are a few other interesting names being floated around too, but with Tucker, it really seems like a smoke=fire situation. If you need any ideas to grease the wheels, give me a call, yeah?

Unfortunately, another dream get, well, may no longer be gettable. Michael Grange of Raptors Sportsnet is adamant about the Toronto franchise keeping franchise icon Kyle Lowry. Now, he is not a member of Toronto's front office, but he is a respected journalist, and it isn't difficult to see the logic here. The Raptors have come on strong after a poor start, and they have one of the deeper rosters in the league. It wouldn't be shocking if they went on such a run they snagged a top-4 seed in the East come playoff time.

But, if this is true, it's a bummer. I've already written about how I feel about this situation. Not only would it be a great homecoming story, but Lowry would be a perfect fit here. Maybe it's still possible, but there is now room for serious doubt.

T.J. McConnell is Awesome

He hasn't been a member of the Sixers since 2019, but there is something so eminently Philadelphia about T.J. McConnell that when he does something that hasn't been done in over two decades, it's certainly worth mentioning. At least, I think so. My blog, so there.

Anyway, the historic achievement I'm referring to is McClutchell (for the record, I have never encountered anyone who called him that) dropping a triple-double off the bench with 16 points, 13 assists, and 10 STEALS in a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mookie Blylock was the last player to do that--fittingly, it came against the Sixers in 1998 (Draymond Green had a triple-double with rebounds, assists and steals in 2017). It was the first time PERIOD a player had a triple-double with steals coming off the bench. There are all sorts of fun tidbits about this performance.

McConnell is having a strong year on the Pacers' second unit. In fact, the 28-year-old guard leads the entire league in both total steals (63) and steals per game (2.0) while playing just 25.3 minutes per game.