The 2024 Summer League Sixers: Who I Like and Who I Don't
AU sizes up this year's Summer League roster in about 30 seconds flat.
Boy, did I show up for this year's Summer League -- not literally of course, I'm not a globe-trotting jetsetter like The Danny, but to my DV-R anyway -- ready to have FUN. It was the longest Sixers pre-offseason in recent memory, followed by the most triumphant Sixers offseason maybe of the entire century, and what better forum for such a long-awaited, low-stakes victory lap than the Summer League stages of Utah and Las Vegas? When we won the first game on the back of a dominant Ricky Council IV and a smiling Jared McCain, I immediately concluded that this was the '96 Bulls of July NBA rosters and that we would run the table well through August. It felt right, even though it wasn't actually.
Anyway, we're through three games in Utah and now one in Vegas, having washed the bad taste of the final two Salt Lake contests out of our mouths and now presumably ready to return to our summertime supremacy. More importantly, after four games of our Summer Sixers, I am ready to make my semi-annual set of snap judgments about which players on this squad I like and which I don't. As always, some of these may have earned their place in my heart because they made one cool play (or even just a satisfying call with their jersey number) and I decided I would love them forever, others may have blown a layup that would've notched an assist for one of their more likeable teammates and I decided they were anti-establishment dissidents who required immediate dismissal.
Here's how I break down this squad of soon-to-be Vegas champs:
Jeff Dowtin Jr.: I don't think I like him, but I may never be totally sure.
Ricky Council IV: I like him but I still don't believe in him.
David Jones: I like him, but mostly because I can pretend he's Shake Milton.
Justin Edwards: I don't like him.
Jared McCain: I like him (but make a goddamn shot already Jared)
R.J. Hampton: I don't like him.
Keve Aluma: I like him!!
Darius Days: Did he ever actually play? I do like an alliterative name.
Adem Bona: I love him.
Tony Bradley: I like him. Build around Tony Bradley!
Romeo Langford: Didn't he used to be a Celtic? I don't like him.
Justin Powell: I don't like him.
Max Fiedler: This is a basketball player?
Judah Mintz: I like him, but mostly because I can pretend he's Jordan McRae.
Jordan Tucker: I like him.
Jaylen Sims: I don't like him (56 is just an unreasonable Summer League number).
Andrew Unterberger writes for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez, as part of the 'If Not, Pick Will Convey as Two Second-Rounders' section of the site. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AUGetoffmygold and can also read him at Billboard.
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Nice snap judgments. Is it JUST the Sixers where shooters like McCain go to forget how to shoot? It can't be, can it?
I'm curious what you think about Embiid's summer ball escapades ... it looks like his first time playing basketball while not in a Sixers (non-All Star edition) and not center of the team's universe. Already the knives are out for him and if Team USA loses, he's going to receive all of the blame -- Game 1, all the reports noted Embiid was rusty. Game 2 v Australia, the reports were that Team USA had a huge issue defending the paint and securing rebounds -- when AD wasn't in the game (that's code for Team USA played poorly when Embiid was in the game). And the announcers were hog wild for all the Sixers players except for Embiid and saying that he needs to look for his teammates instead of trying to overpower double teams in the post and putting up bad shots (true).
It doesn't matter because PG is on the team, but what if Embiid playing on Team USA has a negative impact on recruiting as in more high-level players don't want to play with Embiid because of this experience?