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Rod Boone: No Kon Knueppel vs. Philadelphia tonight. #Hornets say this was anticipated as part of his buildup following a right ankle injury that occured during pre-draft process. He's expected to play on Monday vs. Dallas.
But if you’re someone who covers the Sixers, someone who covered them during the Sam Hinkie and especially the post-Hinkie years, you don’t get Jerry Colangelo on the phone and not ask him about the strangest story in recent Philly sports history. So, Jerry, how is your son doing? “Bryan is doing fine,” he said. “He’s not in basketball, as you well know, and that’s a sad story from my perspective because he really had nothing to do with anything, if you know what I mean.”
Full schedules will be announced in August, coinciding with the rest of the NBA's schedule rollout for the 2025-26 season. The groups: East Group A - Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta, Toronto, Washington. East Group B - Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn, Philadelphia. East Group C - Milwaukee, New York, Chicago, Miami, Charlotte. West Group A - Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Sacramento, Phoenix, Utah. West Group B - L.A. Lakers, LA Clippers, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans. West Group C - Houston, Denver, Golden State, Portland, San Antonio.
Sean Highkin: Jabari Walker on Instagram. Philly’s getting a good one.
Jabari Walker on Instagram. Philly’s getting a good one. pic.twitter.com/f451cHRItx
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) July 6, 2025
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Guerschon Yabusele on Sixers offer: It was really, really low to be honest
“Leaving Philly was not a major key,” the French player said in an interview with SKWEEK TV, a streaming platform focused on European basketball. “I was thinking to myself ‘Oh my god, I could go back,’” Yabusele continued. “I didn’t really have any issues over there like I want to leave, no. I was like, ‘OK, if they want to re-sign me and then they give me something good, I will come back, for sure. And if they want me to leave, then I will leave.’ “I didn’t have any hard feelings or hard time. But they almost didn’t make really like an offer. They did, but it was really, really low to be really transparent. So it was I felt like, ‘Oh my god, you guys, it seems like you don’t really want me to stay, kind of.’ So it was a situation.”
After receiving 11 bids, the WNBA chose Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia as its next three expansion teams, with all three teams backed by owners of the NBA teams in those cities. The owners of the three WNBA expansion teams preceding these—the Golden State Valkyries, the Toronto Tempo and Portland—also have NBA ties. Last September, Allen & Co. was hired by the league to lead the expansion process. “If there are NBA owners in the back room saying, ‘Hey, when am I getting my team?’ I think Adam [Silver] is probably listening,” Austin expansion backer Fran Harris, an entrepreneur and former WNBA player, told Sportico in a phone interview. “It’s hard to tell a billionaire with a thriving NBA team and operation that they can’t run it back with a W team. It’s hard to look at them and just go, ‘I don’t think you’re right.’”
Brandon Rahbar: Sam Presti says OKC only had their healthy rotation for 8.5% of the season. "I think we were 3rd or 4th in most minutes lost due to injury. It was Dallas, Philly... one other team. I say that not to make an excuse. It's actually what forged us and accelerated our team."
WNBA expanding to 18 teams
The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams over the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia all set to join the league by 2030. Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia the season after, assuming they get approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors. Toronto and Portland will enter the league next year. "The demand for women's basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. "This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league's extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women's professional basketball."
The Detroit and Cleveland teams will play at the NBA arenas that currently exist, while Philadelphia is planning on a new building that will be completed hopefully by 2030. "We tell the city it's going to open in 2031. We're hoping for 2030," said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. "So we're trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But, right now it's 2031, so that we have a year gap, you know. We've got the Xfinity center, the Wells Fargo, they'll play there."
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The early rumbles out of Philadelphia on Quentin Grimes' expected new deal: The restricted free agent is projected to land a starting salary of at least $16 million after his monster March.
Multiple well-placed observers are describing San Antonio as the foremost threat to sign Yabusele away from the 76ers, but I'm also told that Philadelphia has not yet abandoned hope of convincing him to stay. The Spurs certainly boast a persuasive recruiter in the Yabusele chase — his Olympic teammate Victor Wembanyama — but word is Milwaukee is another team to watch here.
It has been frequently reported this month that the Sixers were exploring the prospect of trading down a couple spots in the lottery if a team near Philadelphia's No. 3 overall selection was also willing to take on the Paul George's contract as part of the transaction. "Nonsense," said one league source briefed on Philly's thinking.
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