The Philadelphia 76ers’ most recent signee will not actually sign.
Before the Philadelphia 76ers traveled to Orlando, it was announced that Ryan Broekhoff would join them on a two-way contract. The 30-year-old has two years of NBA experience under his belt in Dallas, with a sprawling overseas career to strengthen his resume.
Unfortunately, Broekhoff will no longer join the Sixers in any capacity. The NBA recently released each team’s official bubble roster, and Broekhoff was a notable exclusion. His wife — who is immunocompromised — recently contracted COVID-19. Obviously, some things are more important than basketball.
This is unfortunate news. All we can do here at The Sixer Sense is offer positive thoughts and wish Mrs. Broekhoff a speedy recovery.
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From the unimportant basketball perspective, this doesn’t put a serious dent in the Sixers’ title pursuit. Broekhoff was on a two-way contract, which meant — barring injury — he would not have been on the active postseason roster.
As a contingency plan, Broekhoff made a great deal of sense. He’s a career 40.3 percent 3-point shooter who’s unafraid to let long balls fly. Even if his skill set is otherwise negligible, an operational jump shot alone is enough to provide value next to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
If anything, Broekhoff’s signing was a bridge to the future. He expressed a desire to remain in Philadelphia long term, so perhaps he and the organization will come back together this offseason. At 30, Broekhoff is running out of time to find a sustainable NBA home.
The Sixers will have a slew of free agents on the perimeter this summer (or fall) — Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, Raul Neto. If there’s an open spot and the Sixers believe in Broekhoff’s value as a spot-up shooter, it’s not unfeasible for him to join on a proper minimum contract. By no means is Broekhoff permanently excluded from the Sixers’ future plans.
Again, however, there are more important things than basketball. And the health of Broekhoff’s family is the chief concern in this moment. Hopefully he and his loved ones are safe and healthy, and hopefully his wife is on the track to good health.