In the third edition of Sixers Ties, we wrap up the Eastern Conference by heading down a Southeast Division that features many connections to the Sixers — some dating back a few years, others dating back longer and one going back more than two decades. Let's get into it:
Sixers Ties
Atlantic Division | Central Division
Miami Heat
When the 2024-25 season begins, the Heat will have four players on their roster who have suited up for the Sixers — a star, a starter, a bench piece and a development project.
The Sixers' fortunes were irreversibly changed by the decision to let Jimmy Butler go, and the 2019 offseason set them back multiple years in their pursuit of a championship. Since then, Butler has led the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances and has earned a reputation as one of the most clutch and best big-game players in the world. There does appear to be friction there, though, as the Heat have reportedly not offered Butler a contract extension and he is expected to decline his player option for the 2025-26 season and become a free agent at year's end.
To get Butler, the Heat had to give the Sixers a prized young player in Josh Richardson, thought of as one of the better two-way shooting guards in the NBA at the time. But things quickly went downhill for Richardson — he was not a good fit with that iteration of the Sixers, was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Seth Curry, failed to catch on there as well and began bouncing around the league. Richardson is back with the Heat, and after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery last March he is hopeful to be ready for the start of the season.
The Heat lacked ball-handling beyond Butler and injury-riddled guards Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro, so they signed veteran Alec Burks to a one-year, veteran's minimum deal. Burks played in 18 games for the 2019-20 Sixers after the team acquired him and Glenn Robinson III at the trade deadline.
Haywood Highsmith was an undrafted free agent who caught on with the Sixers' G League affiliate and eventually earned a two-way contract in 2019. But Highsmith only appeared in four NBA games, and it took him two years to get back to that stage. He made the most of an opportunity with the Heat, turning into a credible two-way rotation wing in Miami who is just good enough at everything to be passable in high-leverage situations. Highsmith became a free agent this summer, ultimately returning to Miami on a two-year, $10.8 million deal. Highsmith is likely going to see an increase in starts and playing time now that former Heat wing Caleb Martin has joined the Sixers.
Washington Wizards
Our old friend Richaun Holmes is in Washington now after being salary filler in the deal that sent starting center Daniel Gafford to a Dallas Mavericks team that went to the NBA Finals a few months later. Holmes struggled to gain the trust of his coaches in Philadelphia, and the team eventually gave him up for cash considerations to pave the way for Jonah Bolden to join the team. Holmes spent a year with the Phoenix Suns before heading to the Sacramento Kings, where he had the best few years of his career. If Holmes does not stand out among a crowded Washington center rotation, it would not be a surprise if his current deal — which expires after the upcoming season — is the last standard NBA deal he plays on. Even if it is, he will have more than $60 million in career earnings, a remarkable achievement.
To trade for Tobias Harris nearly six years ago, the Sixers did not just have to part with Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala and rookie Landry Shamet: they also traded two first-round picks to the Los Angeles Clippers in the deal, and one of them became Bey, a wing out of Villanova who had a predictably strong start to his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons before tailing off a bit. Bey suffered a torn ACL late last season, but in search of young talent, the rebuilding Wizards inked him to a three-year, $19 million deal that could become a valuable contract if he is able to get back to an upward trajectory once he returns.
Charlotte Hornets
The other first-round pick moved in the Harris deal — the vaunted 2021 unprotected Miami pick that enticed the Sixers to swap Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith — turned into point guard Tre Mann after the Heat managed to escape NBA purgatory. Mann failed to impress during two years and change with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but was part of the package that netted the Thunder Gordon Hayward from Charlotte at last year's trade deadline and did show some juice with the Hornets.
That Miami pick went on quite the journey: the Heat traded it to Phoenix to land Goran Dragić, Phoenix rerouted it to the Sixers for Bridges, the Sixers sent it to the Clippers for Harris, the Clippers used it as part of their deal to land Paul George, and now George is... on the Sixers. What a journey!
Another player sent from Oklahoma City to Charlotte in the Hayward deal was crafty point guard Vasilije Micić, an international basketball superstar who finally came to the NBA last season more than seven years after the Sixers drafted him. Micić was moved to Oklahoma City in the deal that enabled the Sixers to shed the final three years of Al Horford's contract and replace him with Danny Green.
Orlando Magic
The only player signed with Orlando that has any real affiliation with the Sixers is Trevelin Queen, who is on a two-way deal with the Magic. A former G League star, Queen signed a multi-year standard deal with the Sixers during the 2022 offseason with light guarantees and did not make the team. Queen logged 14 NBA appearances for the Magic last season, a career high.
The Magic did part with two players with Sixers connections over the course of this offseason. One of those players' Sixers tenure lasted for nearly two years, the other's lasted for closer to two hours.
Markelle Fultz being on his way out of the league at 26 years old is a stunning development, even after his disastrous shooting woes escalated. There is an easy case to make that somebody should sign the former No. 1 overall pick on a minimum deal.
Am I the only person in the world that remembers the Sixers drafting Admiral Schofield and immediately trading him to the Wizards? Probably. I'm not sure Schofield himself remembers. Schofield has spent the last three seasons with Orlando.
Atlanta Hawks
After the Sixers swapped Horford for Green, the veteran three-time champion gave them extremely valuable contributions. Eventually, though the Sixers used Green as salary filler in a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Sixers received De'Anthony Melton in what became a home run of a deal. With that first-round pick, the Sixers called in the selection of a sturdy wing named David Roddy on Memphis' behalf. Roddy has not lived up to the Grizzlies' hopes and was dealt to Phoenix last season. This summer, the Suns moved him to the Hawks.
In all likelihood, one of the people who helped facilitate that deal is a person who lives in Sixers lore: Hawks Assistant General Manager Kyle Korver. The No. 51 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft is now second in line within Atlanta's front office, behind Landry Fields — another former player who has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the executive ranks. Korver nearly returned for a swan song in Philadelphia for the 2019-20 season, but despite heavy recruitment he decided to join the Milwaukee Bucks instead. What a world!
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