Wing shooter Broekhoff added for postseason depth
Former Dallas Maverick Ryan Broekhoff, a native of Australia, will join the Sixers for the conclusion of the long-delayed NBA season.
The 6-6 wing and career 40.3-percent 3-point shooter will sign as a free agent, according to a league source. His addition will expand the Sixers’ roster to 17, the limit for the final eight regular-season games and postseason.
Broekhoff, 29, played 42 games for Dallas last season. In 17 games this season, he averaged 4.2 points. He last played Feb. 8.
The Sixers are already so flush with wing players that Brett Brown will have to make some delicate decisions as he shaves his postseason rotation to his preferred nine. Broekhoff is unlikely to be more than a deep sub. Yet with the 22 NBA teams soon to report to Orlando for the completion of the season in a virtual bubble amid virus concerns, he could prove valuable in some unforeseen ways.
With players about to be subjected to regular COVID-19 tests, and with those found potentially infectious to be side-tracked into quarantine, added personnel well could be necessary. Broekhoff will have multi-layer appeal to Brown, who will coach Australia in the 2021 Summer Olympics.
With Brown often touting the value of experience, Broekhoff has an extensive international basketball background. Undrafted in 2013 out of Valparaiso, where he shot 44.8 percent from behind the arc as a sophomore, Broekhoff has played professionally in Turkey
and Russia and has represented Australia in multiple international competitions. He was reported to be among the final cuts for the 2012 Australian Olympic team, coached by Brown. Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons also has deep Australian international experience.
Broekhoff signed a twoyear deal with Dallas in 2018. He played in a total of 59 games, starting one, and shooting 40.3 from 3-point distance. In January of the 2018-2019 season, Broekhoff scored 15 points in 21 minutes against the Sixers, hitting three of five 3-point attempts.
Broekhoff has signed with the Sixers only for the remainder of the season, according to ESPN, which first reported the transaction. The Sixers had 16 players and an opening for a second two-way player. Marial Shayok is also on a two-way contract.
Broekhoff will join Glenn Robinson III, Furkan Korkmaz, Mike Scott, Matisse Thybulle, Shake Milton, Alec Burks and Zhaire Smith in a crunch for limited backup minutes on the wing.
The NBA suspended play amid coronavirus concerns March 11 and will resume July 31 in Orlando. Though they will play eight more regular-season games, the Sixers are guaranteed a playoff spot.
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A second-round pick in the last draft, Shayok was named Friday to the All-GLeague third team.
As a rookie with the Sixers’ Delaware Blue Coats, Shayok averaged 23.0 points, six rebounds and 3.8 assists. He dropped 42 points on Greensboro in November.
Shayok has played in two games for the Sixers, averaging 1.5 points. He will be on the roster when the season resumes.
Blue Coat Christ Koumadje was named to the GLeague’s All-Defensive team. Koumadje, a 7-4 undrafted rookie out of Florida State, was named as the G-League Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the league’s coaches and general managers. He averaged 11.8 points and blocked 133 shots.