June 28, 2015
If true, this is some more bad publicity for local basketball club via The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey:
The 76ers were ordered to pay the New Orleans Pelicans $3 million by the NBA last season for not fully disclosing Jrue Holiday's injury history before he was traded two years ago, according to two sources.
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.
It should be noted that while Sam Hinkie declined to comment, Pompey had an anonymous Sixers team source refuting the rumor in the report. Fox 29 and 94 WIP’s Howard Eskin confirmed the report, and also tweeted out another element to the story which has the Sixers going on the offensive:
The #sixers ordered to pay #Pelicans 3M for not disclosing injuries when trading Jrue Holiday. ..(1) con't
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) June 28, 2015
(2) The #sixers I'm told also filed grievance against #lakers related to Bynum trade. Sixers contend didn't fully know of injuries. Want 3M
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) June 28, 2015
Only a month after Hinkie took over the reins in May 2013, Holiday of course was traded for the sixth pick in that year's NBA Draft (Nerlens Noel) and a protected 2014 first-round pick that essentially ended up becoming Dario Saric (after he was traded for Elfrid Payton on draft night).
Despite sneaking into the playoffs in the brutal Western Conference largely on the back of young super-duperstar Anthony Davis this season, the Pelicans can’t really say they got the better of the trade. This is largely because Holiday, a durable point guard who played in at least 89 percent of the Sixers’ games during all of his four seasons in Philly from 2009-2013, has only been on the floor for 74 combined games the past two regular seasons for New Orleans.
If you’ll remember, Holiday wore down considerably as the 2012-13 season progressed. Before the All-Star Game, which he played in that season, he was averaging 19.7 points, 8.5 assists, and 4.1 rebounds on 45 percent shooting. After, his numbers went down to 16.2, 7.6, and 4.3 on 40 percent shooting.
This report comes on the heels of another report that the National Basketball Players Association is looking into the Sixers’ cap practices:
NBPA told agents in meeting Monday that it is researching Philadelphia for possible violation of collective bargaining, sources tell RealGM.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2015
When asked about the NBPA report on Friday afternoon, Sam Hinkie said he wasn’t concerned.
“We’re not sure what that’s about yet,” Hinkie said. “We asked a few questions and haven’t gotten answers.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
