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Australian forward Ryan Broekhoff will return to Philadelphia

Australian forward Ryan Broekhoff will return to Philadelphia to link up with fellow Boomers star Ben Simmons

Ryan Broekhoff #45 playing for the Dallas Mavericks against the Philadelphia 76ers, wo he will now join (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
Ryan Broekhoff #45 playing for the Dallas Mavericks against the Philadelphia 76ers, wo he will now join (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Australian forward Ryan Broekhoff will return to Philadelphia to hopefully form a formidable combination with fellow Boomers star Ben Simmons after agreeing to minimum deal for the upcoming season.

In a major boost for Broekhoff’s NBA career following an interrupted 2020 season, the Boomers wing will add much needed shooting to the 76ers.

The 30-year-old from Melbourne fractured his leg in January before being waived by Dallas in February.

After an extended injury lay-off, Broekhoff then signed with Philadelphia in June and looked set to return before his wife tested positive to COVID-19.

As a result, he opted not to partake in the NBA season restart in the Orlando bubble in July.

Broekhoff didn’t travel with the 76ers, deciding to stay home and reveal his wife’s situation via a tweet.

“I am not with the 76ers right now in Orlando because my wife, who is high risk, tested positive for COVID,” Broekhoff said.

“We have a young son, and my focus needs to be with my family at this time. I appreciate the 76ers for their support.”

Broekhoff’s wife has an auto-immune disease, so he had to put her health before basketball.

Now the swingman from Frankston has the perfect chance to revive his NBA career at Philadelphia.

He will look to use his renowned shooting ability in a 76ers side that has loaded up on offence weapons over the off-season with the signings of Seth Curry, Danny Green, and former Adelaide 36er, Terrance Ferguson.

Broekhoff played in 59 games for Dallas over the last two seasons, shooting 40.3 per cent from three-point range.

He averaged 4.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 10.7 minutes with the Mavericks in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

Matthew Dellavedova will stay at Cleveland (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Matthew Dellavedova will stay at Cleveland (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

In other news, fellow Australian Matthew Dellavedova has agreed to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Australian guard has signed a one-year, minimum deal with the Cavaliers.

The NBL’s newest franchise, the Tasmania JackJumpers, have previously expressed an interest in Dellavedova for their maiden season in 2021-2022.

JackJumpers CEO Simon Brookhouse will continue to monitor the Boomers’ star’s situation.

“Delly fortunately has another year in the NBA, which is fantastic for him,” Brookhouse said.

“We haven’t reached out specifically because we always expected that he would get more time in the NBA.

“But like I said before, if a potential ex-NBA player were available, whoever that might be, we would certainly entertain talking to them.

“At the moment, no one is available so for us it is a bit of a sit and wait and get our head coach in place before setting our sights on players.”

Read related topics:Ben Simmons

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/basketball/australian-forward-ryan-broekhoff-will-return-to-philadelphia/news-story/a260be3bd5bb3d490181d3b728f15e28