Sixers expected to sign Anthony Tolliver for remainder of the season

Signs are pointing towards Anthony Tolliver remaining a 76er.

The final day of the power forward’s second 10-day contract is Saturday. Afterward, the expectation is the Sixers will sign him for the remainder of the season as early as Sunday if everything goes as planned, according to sources. The Athletic was first to report this news.

Tolliver, 35, averaged 1.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 12.5 minutes in five appearances with the Sixers heading into Friday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at the Wells Fargo Center. The team signed him to his first 10-day contract on April 12.

Tolliver was signed partly to mentor the Sixers’ young low-minute guys.

“He’s ready when you call him and that’s what you want,” coach Doc Rivers said about Tolliver before Friday’s game. “He plays a smart brand of basketball, takes charges, knows where to space, how to space, no, he’s been really good for us.”

Furkan Korkmaz was hitting his stride before suffering an ankle injury during the Sixers’ 116-113 home loss to the Phoenix Suns on April 21.

After missing two games, the fourth-year Sixers swingman has been able to pick up where he left off.

Early in the third quarter of the Phoenix game, Korkmaz rolled his right ankle after he slipped on the floor attempting a layup.

He returned in the fourth quarter, hit a three-pointer, and played 5 minutes, 10 seconds.

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After that, he missed two games, both losses at Milwaukee.

Korkmaz has returned, and in the last two games, which included one start, he averaged 11 points while shooting 6-for-11 (.545) from three-point range.

“When I first rolled my ankle I felt like it was not something serious because, as a player, you know how bad is an injury, how good is an injury,” Korkmaz said following Friday’s shootaround in preparation for the evening’s game with the visiting Hawks.

Before the injury, Korkmaz was playing some of his best basketball of the season. In eight games, including the one against Phoenix, in which he scored 12 points, Korkmaz averaged 13.9 points and shot 44.6% from three-point range.

For the season, Korkmaz entered Friday’s game averaging 9.6 points, and shooting 38.8% from beyond the arc.

Korkmaz is happy that he was able to remain consistent in his first two games back.

“Mentally, I was trying to stay strong, stay ready,” he said.

Sixers fans will have the chance to purchase game-worn sneakers from some of their current and former players.

The Sixers Youth Foundation will be auctioning off 76ers game-worn sneakers beginning on Thursday and concluding on May 8. All proceeds from the auction will go directly toward supporting children in the Delaware Valley.

Sixers managing partner Josh Harris and his wife, Marjorie, cofounders of Harris Philanthropies, will be matching the proceeds from the auction.

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In addition to game-worn sneakers from current Sixers, others who will be featured include coach Doc Rivers and Hall of Famers Allen Iverson and Julius Erving.

Here is a look at the sneakers that will be auctioned.

Last year, the Sixers Youth Foundation awarded more than $500,000 to nonprofit partners in Philadelphia and Camden. In Camden, where 30% of the population is younger than 18, the Sixers said the foundation’s work has reached nearly half of all children living in poverty between 7 and 14.

For more information on the auction, go to https://sixersyouthfoundation.org/sneaker-auction/

The Sixers begin a three-game road trip on Sunday in San Antonio that will kick off an extremely busy month of May. Beginning on Sunday, they will play their final nine regular-season games in 15 days. After Sunday, the Sixers will have only one game left against a team that entered Friday with a winning record, when they visit Miami on May 13.