The Sixers wrapped up their summer league slate with a win over the Nets in Vegas Friday night.
There’s no other way to describe anyone who tuned into this one, with this starting lineup, as an absolute trooper.
The Sixers wrapped up summer league with a 87-83 win over the Brooklyn Nets Friday night. Mark Armstrong led all with 23 points along with seven rebounds, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor. Judah Mintz finished with 20 on 5-of-13 shooting, along with four assists.
Once again, VJ Edgecombe, Justin Edwards and Adem Bona did not suit up for this one. Johni Broome was out as well. As has become a tradition for the final recap of summer league, this will just be player grades for some key members of the roster.
VJ Edgecombe
It’s ironic because if he only played in that one game, he might have walked away with a perfect grade. Edgecombe’s 28-point debut back in Salt Lake City was exactly what Sixers fans could have hoped for. His ability to create advantages due to athleticism was on full display, and he looked more than confident looking for his spots to get off his jump-shot.
He really shouldn’t be dinged too much for his lone appearance in Vegas. His 15-point performance on 4-of-14 shooting is the exact type of “bad” game you want to see a prospect fight through in summer league. He couldn’t buy a shot to fall early, but he didn’t shy away from his process. He continued to attack with confidence and turned things around in the second half.
Once he got going in Utah, the offense started to run through him exclusively. He tried to initiate a fair bit in the second game as well. He finished with eight assists over those two games. It will be interesting to see how much of that he does with the real roster when he gets the chance. He doesn’t profile as a traditional point guard at all, but his athleticism will create advantages that will collapse defenses.
Grade: A-
Justin Edwards
This might be a case where all that matters is making your three-pointers.
After an encouraging rookie season, it could have been expected that Edwards would only play in a game or two this summer, showing himself too good to be there. That didn’t exactly happen. He was all over the place trying to create for himself, shooting 36.6% from the field and averaging 3.3 turnovers a game this summer.
Edwards showed last season how good he is as a role player complementing stars. Summer league isn’t exactly a good environment to show that off, but Edwards still struggled in ways he didn’t a year ago. On a team that struggled to hit outside shots even on a summer standard, Edwards did stand out as someone who could hit them. A couple hot performances from deep rounded him up to 40.65% from beyond the arc. The Sixers hope that’s the only stat of his that translates from this summer.
Grade: D+
Adem Bona
This was a much more reassuring performance from a second-year player. Bona kicked things off well by bullying Kyle Filipowski to an 18-point and eight-rebound performance, and he closed his summer with a six-block performance against the Wizards. Like Edwards, he did struggle a bit with the lack of structure on the team. He averaged 2.6 turnovers, though most of that boiled down to having the ball in situations he definitely shouldn’t.
Bona received a lot of praise for his vocal leadership, and with the quiet crowds, that was very evident on every broadcast. Even as a second-year player in summer league, he plays with so much energy it shows itself in every aspect of his game, and makes for an enjoyable watch.
Grade: B+
Johni Broome
A big sticking point for Broome’s ability to become a rotation player in the NBA was his ability to develop a three-point shot. He came into the summer firing away, and the success was there. Broome averaged 5.1 three-point attempts and made 38.9% of them this summer. That will certainly play at a higher level if it translates.
He was able to show off some of his other strengths that made him one of the best college players in the country. He’s good at understanding positioning which has made him a solid rebounder and defender. His offensive game inside the arc though was less impressive. The flashes of his passing chops were few and far between, and his lack of athleticism was very apparent, even in this setting.
Grade: B
Hunter Sallis
Currently on a two-way contract, Sallis didn’t exactly make any teams regret letting him go undrafted. What few positives he was able to create off the dribble were often outshone by the negatives. He averaged just 1.7 assists compared to the 1.8 turnovers per game coming into the final game of the summer. His shot has always been a weird area of his game, and before the final game he was shooting just 27.3% from the field, having only made one three-pointer.
Grade: D-
Judah Mintz
Sallis’ prospects of remaining on that two-way don’t look great. Perhaps it was just familiarity in the system, but after playing for the Sixers in last year’s summer league, then the season with the Delaware Blue Coats, Mintz hit the ground running this summer.
Coming into the final contest, he was averaging 15.4 points per game with 3.6 assists, shooting 48.5% from the field while going just 25% from three-point range. Mintz has impressed as a bucket-getter in every opportunity he’s gotten. Summer league performances don’t mean everything, but he’s certainly made the case for that last two-way spot, especially given the fact that despite his experience, he’s actually still a couple of months younger than Sallis.
Grade: B+
That’ll do it, for now, for our game coverage! We’ll see you back here in October for the preseason.