Pacers’ Wiseman suffers torn Achilles in opener

The NBA has opened an inquiry into the circumstances around James Harden’s public critique of Daryl Morey in which he was called “a liar.” Harden also said he will never play for a team that also employs Morey.

The league is pursuing whether Harden was portending a hold out of the 23-24 season, or if he was referencing past contract discussions with the Sixers that could be a circumvention of the cap.

Harden has privately indicated that his public comments calling Morey a “liar” on Monday morning had only been a response to Morey ending trade discussions. Harden exercised his $35.6 million player option with the Sixers in late June with the expectation he would be traded.

The Sixers told Harden that they hadn’t found a workable trade with the Los Angeles Clippers and expect him to report to camp in September.

The Sixers were stripped of two second round picks for premature conversations last offseason with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House.

Trae Young had his one-month follow-up evaluation on Monday and is making progress in his recovery from when he sustained a left fifth finger torn ligament on Feb. 23 and underwent surgery on Feb. 27.

As the next step of his rehabilitation, Young will introduce small finger motion exercises this week.

The Atlanta Hawks will almost certainly finish the regular season with either the ninth or 10th seed and be in the play-in.