(AP)

WASHINGTON – Evan Turner said he and 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie have not spoken regarding the fourth-year forward’s future with the franchise.

“There’s nothing really to speak on. Whatever happens, happens,” Turner said Friday, before the Sixers played the host Wizards. “That stuff will come down. I’m just playing. All of that is after-season matters. I’m just worried about playing for the Sixers. The rest will work itself out.”

The Sixers did not exercise the qualifying offer on Turner for next season prior to Thursday’s midnight, league-mandated deadline. The team still has until June 30 to pick up the $8.71 million qualifying offer that would make Turner a restricted free agent and give the Sixers a chance to match another team’s offer, but that seems unlikely.

Turner said he’s came to terms with the fact that the Sixers wouldn’t pick up the qualifying offer.

“I knew that a while ago,” he said. “I knew when Sam took over and traded Jrue (Holiday) and all of that. I wasn’t expecting anything. Hinkie is not my GM. He doesn’t owe me anything. I’m just taking advantage of playing. I just didn’t expect anything. We’re going in a different direction.”

Turner’s future with the Sixers, the team that drafted him second overall in 2010, remains uncertain. He said he didn’t want to guess as to whether he’d be in Philly next season.

“I really don’t know, to tell you the truth,” he said. “He (Hinkie) just traded Jrue and Jrue is a walking legend, you know what I’m saying? Even Wilt Chamberlain got traded.

(Associated Press)

Saturday, Jrue Holiday had a Jrue Holiday-type game, which meant everyone was talking about Jrue Holiday. Understandably, right?

Holiday dumped in a career-best 35 points in the Sixers' 97-80 win over the New York Knicks. With Sixers coach Doug Collins unavailable due to health reasons, assistant coach Michael Curry handled questions about Holiday. Here was one of Curry's replies:

“It's good for the organization to have a young guy that comes in and a young guy that can play with Andrew (Bynum) for a long time. That's good for us,” Curry said. “That's good for confidence and when you're bringing guys in in the future, they want to play with those guys.”

Whoa. Hold the phone here. Curry said what?

To date, no one from within the Sixers' organization has said anything about Bynum long-term. Every question has been answered in the same guarded way, that they're waiting and hoping, praying and finger-crossing, that Bynum returns to the court and debuts for the Sixers sooner than later.

That someone mentioned Bynum in the same breath as the term “long time” is kind of a revelation. What does it mean? Nothing much. It's a postgame quote lauding the play of one star with the mention of another. Does it mean the Sixers have had internal discussions about Bynum returning? You could have made those assumptions long before those words left Curry's lips.

But it's certainly news – or, at the very least, new – that someone views Bynum in that light.

(AP)

Jrue Holiday said it all day Wednesday. From a.m. shootaround to p.m. postgame, Holiday made it clear he wanted to stay in Philly and a contract extension prior to the midnight deadline was what he wanted.

Holiday got his wish.

"It’s Halloween. You never know what’ll happen," Holiday said.

According to multiple sources, including ESPN's Marc Stein, Holiday and the 76ers reached an accord last Wednesday night and just under the midnight cutoff. Stein is reporting that the extension for Holiday equates to four years, $41 million.

A source told the Daily Times the Sixers "made a deal right before the deadline." Specifics other than those reported by Stein were unknown.

Had the Sixers not gotten a deal done with Holiday, they would've had a chance to make a qualifying offer sheet for the fourth-year point guard after this season, but Holiday at the least would've been a restricted free agent. If he signed the offer sheet for the 2013-14 season, Holiday would've been an unrestricted free agent in 2014-15, and the Sixers certainly didn't want that.

“You know, honestly, I want what I want,” Holiday said, prior to the Sixers’ season opener with Denver.

Holiday had said all day Wednesday that he had a number in his head --- and what he wanted was reportedly near $14 million per season --- and that he wasn't willing to budge much. But he also expressed a desire to stay with the Sixers.

The deal, just under the deadline, accomplished that.

"There are two hours and 17 minutes left -- an eternity in the 'deal' business," Sixers owner Josh Harris told Daily Times columnist Jack McCaffery after the season-opening win.

(AP)

This is an excerpt from Daily Times columnist Jack McCaffery's blog:

With time running out for the Sixers to prevent point guard Jrue Holiday from becoming a restricted free agent at the end of the season, owner Josh Harris sounded something less than convinced that a deal would be done.

"It's a work in process," Harris said.

His gut?

"I don't want to speculate," he said. "I don't want to speculate."

The Sixers have until midnight Wednesday (into Thursday) to sign Holiday to an extension. If not, he would become a restricted free agent at season's end.

Before an 84-75 victory over the Denver Nuggets, Holiday assured that he would prefer to remain a Sixer. Reports are, though, that he wants as much as a $10 million a year raise from the $2.7 million he will earn this season.

The timing was favorable for Holiday, who was the difference Wednesday, making three important plays in the final four minutes to blunt a Denver rally. Without a replacement point guard of Holiday's skill and experience, the Sixers might not be able to afford his entry into free agency.

"The way we are going to approach all of this stuff is to try and make smart decisions," Harris said. "We really like Jrue. We would like to have him around. But I don't know what is going to happen. I hope it works out. But if not, he will be around certainly all season and hopefully beyond that. We'll have to see."

Said Harris, not long ago: "There are two hours and 17 minutes left, an eternity in the 'deal' business."

Check out my column on Holiday in the Daily Times Thursday and, as always, on delcotimes.com