East Notes: Cavs, Collin Sexton, 76ers, Wizards

Cavaliers

• Despite the differences in contract negotiations, the Cavs are confident Collin Sexton will return next season, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor said on a podcast with Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
• While sources tell Hoops Wire that the Jazz very much have Sexton on their radar, there’s been no indication the Cavs are seriously looking into sign-and-trade scenarios, Fedor added. Of course, that can change the longer things drag on, but it really doesn’t seem likely to come to that.
• Sexton is represented by Cleveland product Rich Paul and many around the league seem to believe that Paul will not settle on the Cavs’ current offer. The possibility remains that Sexton could just accept the qualifying offer of $7.2 million and become an unrestricted free agent next summer, as Fedor said.
• For more on Sexton, read my latest full post right here.

76ers

Coach Doc Rivers said that any allegations of the 76ers tampering are “not true,” as he and president of basketball operations Daryl Morey had no idea that James Harden would opt out of his contract prior to free agency.

The NBA is currently investigating whether the Sixers had early contact with Harden, P.J. Tucker and Danuel House.

“… First of all, we didn’t know what we were going to do with the money we were getting [when Harden opted out of his $47 million player option],” Rivers said, via ESPN. “And listen, James won, too, because James could’ve opted into a one-year deal. Instead, we gave him three years. And so both parties won in a lot of ways. Listen, it worked out for us, it worked out for James.

“I guarantee you Daryl Morey had no idea what James was going to do. I remember talking to him on the eve of when James could opt in or out, and he was like, ‘We’ve got five hours left.’ I mean, that was Daryl Morey, so that tells you he had no idea … I really believed that James was not going to opt in, that he was going to try to do a longer-term deal. But I didn’t know, I can tell you that. That’s for sure.”

• Former second-round pick Filip Petrusev spent last season overseas and will do so again next season. But eventually, he intends to join the 76ers. “I went to the Summer League with Philadelphia, the team that drafted me,” Petrusev said, via Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “Being there, talking to everyone. They have a plan for me and everything is going according to that plan.”

Wizards

• In case you missed it, sources have told Hoops Wire that the Wizards are among the teams with Sexton on their radar. But that could create a logjam at the guard spot, wrote Albert Lee of SB Nation.
• As it stands, second-year coach Wes Unseld Jr. will be looking to “fit 16 pieces together into a coherent whole,” wrote Josh Robbins of The Athletic in a piece on the team’s position battles.
• With the Donovan Mitchell trade talks between the Jazz and Knicks reportedly at a standstill, the Wizards have entered the conversation, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. That said, the Knicks “still have the ability to trade as many first-round picks as possible, something neither Charlotte nor Washington can do,” wrote Daniel Chavkin of SI.com.