League Orders 76ers to Pay Pelicans $3 Million for Not Disclosing Jrue Holiday’s Injury History

Besides drafting Jahlil Okafor at last Thursday’s draft, the Sixers have not had much good, positive news surrounding the organization. First the team was unable to reach a buyout agreement to bring Dario Saric to Philadelphia for next season. Then, a report came out that the Sixers were being researched by the NBPA for a possible violation of the CBA. Right around the draft, a report came out that said a number of agents were telling the Sixers not to draft their respective prospects.

Today a report from Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer was released that said the 76ers were ordered by the league to pay the New Orleans Pelicans $3 million for not disclosing Jrue Holiday’s injury history:

"The sources said Holiday played with stress fractures in his lower right leg during his final season with the Sixers. However, the sources said, those injures weren’t fully disclosed to the Pelicans.Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie declined to comment, but a Sixers team source disputed the allegation. “That’s not true,” the Sixers source said."

Holiday was traded to New Orleans for the draft rights of Nerlens Noel and a future first round pick, which turned into Dario Saric, on draft night in 2013.

In the 2012-13 season, Holiday’s last season in Philadelphia, he was an All-Star and appeared in 78 games. Although, his numbers dipped in the second half of the season, which could be explained by him playing with multiple stress fractures in his lower right leg.

In his first season in New Orleans, Holiday only appeared in a total of 34 games before fracturing his right tibia. This past season Holiday was in-and-out of the lineup due to another stress fracture in his right leg as well as ankle issues as well.

Obviously this not a good look on the front office, if the Sixers were indeed aware of Holiday’s injury history with stress fractures and the Pelicans were not informed about it. New Orleans was able to perform a physical on Holiday as part of the trade, but they may not have spotted the fracture or if it had healed the Sixers may not have informed them about it. The Pelicans gave up two extremely valuable assets for Holiday, who has not been able to stay on the court in his first two seasons in New Orleans. So this does not look good on the Sixers organization because they essentially traded away damaged goods without notifying the Pelicans that they were damaged.

This has not been reported or confirmed by the league, which makes the situation interesting because a team source denied the report. The league still could be looking into the situation and/or deciding on what the right punishment is to hand out to the Sixers. $3 million is a steep fine, but it would be better than forfeiting a future draft pick.

Pompey also reported in his piece that the Sixers are trying to receive money from the Los Angeles Lakers for misinforming them about Andrew Bynum and his injury history. As all Sixers fans know, Bynum did not appear in a single game for the Sixers due to his persistent knee injuries. No amount of money will be able to rid the nightmare year of Andrew Bynum in Philadelphia from the minds of Sixers fans.

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