As was previously reported, the Brooklyn Nets have explored the idea signing free agent forward Markieff Morris. According to Marc Stein, the Nets may have some competition for Morris from the Philadelphia 76ers.

Morris is a Philadelphia native, and the Sixers are still looking to add additional frontcourt depth behind Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris. As it stands now, P.J. Tucker and Georges Niang project to be the primary backups in the frontcourt.

Morris played for the Miami Heat last season, which was his 11th in the NBA. Just as the veteran forward was rounding into form, Morris was injured in an altercation with Nikola Jokic in an early-November game. Morris was out with whiplash for over four months.

As for Brooklyn, the Nets are still looking to add depth as they rebuild their rotation. Kevin Durant has withdrawn his trade request, which has the Nets considering adding veterans to their bench.

The Philadelphia 76ers will play at the Boston Celtics to open the NBA season on October 18, reported Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The Lakers will be at the Warriors in the second game.

In addition, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports! reported that Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves will face the Jazz on October 21 in Minnesota. 

The league also announced its 5-game Christmas slate over the weekend.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons have reached a confidential settlement on the nearly $20 million withheld from his contract last season. Simmons signed a five-year, $170 million contract extension in 2019 with the Sixers.

Simmons cited his mental health for the reason his participation in team activities was limited.

The 76ers maintained Simmons was in breach of contract for failing to show up for the start of training camp and refusing to play in preseason and regular season games.

Beginning with Simmons' first paycheck on Nov. 15, Philadelphia began to take back the per-game salary of $360,000 for each game Simmons missed in the season. Because Simmons received a $16.5 million advance of his $33 million salary in the offseason, there wasn't enough money in each paycheck to cover the per-game deductions.

The 76ers traded Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets at last season's deadline.

Christmas Day is one of the marquee dates on the NBA calendar. The 2022 Christmas Day slate will reportedly feature eight 2022 playoff teams. The games schedule for the Christmas quintuple-header are:

Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks

Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics

Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks

Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Jared Weiss of The Athletic (@JaredWeissNBA) and Jared Dubin of FiveThirtyEight (@JADubin5) in-depth on the NBA’s Atlantic Division.

They discuss how the 76ers, Celtics, Nets, Raptors and Knicks fared in the off-season and predict the season to come, including projected finish, breakout players and rookies they are most excited to see.

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed. 

Kevin Durant has interest in a trade to the Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Durant was previously focused on the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, who each likely lack the assets necessary to trade for him.

The Celtics and Brooklyn Nets engaged last month on a trade centered around Durant for Jaylen Brown.

The Nets have sought the inclusion of Marcus Smart, who Durant would like to play with if he's traded to the Celtics.

Brown has been the best single player offered to the Nets in a trade for Durant.

The Sixers would have to include Tyrese Maxey in a trade for Durant along with some combination of Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and other assets. The Sixers already sent a number of assets to the Nets as part of the James Harden trade.

James Harden negotiated a 15 percent trade bonus in his new two-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harden will earn $33 million in Year 1 and has a player option for 23-24 worth $35.64 million.