Boom! Boom! The D-Fenders are moving up in the world! First David Nwaba signs with the Lakers, now Justin Harper is set to sign with the Sixers.
Following a nice showing at the NBA D-League All-Star game, 27-year-old forward Justin Harper will be signing a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers according to Shams Charania of The Vertical.
The Sixers recently waived Chasson Randle to make room for Andrew Bogut, who was acquired as part of the trade that sent Nerlens Noel to the Dallas Mavericks. However, since then Bogut and Philadelphia negotiated a buyout and the Australian big man is reportedly heading to Cleveland. The Sixers’ open roster spot will be filled by the D-Fenders high scoring, dependable, and cool-as-a-cucumber Harper.
With Noel out of the picture and Embiid and Simmons reportedly out for the rest of the season, Harper will get plenty of opportunities to prove himself on the court.
This won’t be Harper’s first stint in the NBA. He has signed two previous 10-day contracts, both with the Detroit Pistons, after being waived by the Brooklyn Nets. The Pistons signed Harper for the second time when Stanley Johnson got hurt, but when Johnson came back to play with the Pistons, Harper came back to the D-Fenders to help them make a run for the D-League Championship.
Prior to Detroit, Harper played for the Orlando Magic after being drafted by the Cavs in 2011 and being traded. In 2015 Harper signed with the Nets.
So far this season, the 6-foot-10, 225 pound forward has made over 40 percent of his threes and has averaged 16.2 points, 7 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He has scored 601 points in 1,074 minutes on a 56 percent clip this season.
I spoke with Justin Harper about his NBA All-Star experience for In the Front Row:
The 28-10 D-Fenders are going to be hurting if they don’t make some moves quickly. Currently, the team is No. 1 in their division and the Western Conference. Now two of their starting forwards are gone for at least 10 days, and Jeff Ayers left to play overseas. What do you do? Play Travis Wear more, David Foster will get some more minutes as well, and it doesn’t seem that they will get Ivica Zubac back anytime soon.
Must Read: Justin Harper Talks to the Lake Show Life about the NBA All-Stars
Time for Nick Mazzella to work some magic, you never know, there may be more call-ups coming!