School is out for summer.
Wrapping things up with a 103-98 win over the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon, the summer Sixers finished with a record of 5-3; going 1-2 in Utah and 4-1 in Las Vegas.
The Sixers went into the sessions with two players from last year’s roster, two rookies from this year’s draft, and two undrafted rookies on two-way contracts.
While nothing happened this summer that will cause a seismic change, it’s time to look at the eight summer Sixers who could feasibly make an appearance this upcoming season and give them grades for the 2024 summer league.
Starting with the guys who were here last year, Council consistently looked like one of the best players on the court this summer, something that’s nice to see given his experience.
On top of his athleticism giving him an edge against this level of competition, Council was clearly trying to work on things that will help him hang around as an NBA rotation player. Unlike last summer, he didn’t let a bad shooting night stop him from chucking.
While he only made 29.3% of his threes, that didn’t stop him from attempting over five a game. He also just gets those shots up quicker and smoother than he did this time last year.
Another guy who was here last year, Dowtin had a little more to play for this summer. The Sixers waived his $2 million dollar deal for next year before inviting him back for the summer.
Similar to Council, Dowtin’s experience and general ability to put the ball in the hoop made him look like one of the better players on the court in most games.
He averaged 17.1 points per game this summer, shooting 48.3% from the field and 30% from three before him and Council were shut down before the final game.
The Sixers liked enough of what they saw, as the Athletic’s Shams Charania reported just hours after their final summer league contest that the team would be giving Dowtin their third and final two-way spot.
Now, for someone who’s summer didn’t go as well as planned.
The 16th overall pick is this past draft did turn heads early. He seemed to open just about every game with a couple of impressive threes before cooling off for the rest of the night.
He finished the summer shooting just 28.6% from the field and 25.5% from three.
While those numbers aren’t pretty, it is important to remember that summer league is still a very small sample size. And it’s not like McCain’s form looks broken. He got a lot of good and creative looks, many of which happened to roll off the rim.
He was also able to end things on a bit of a high note, going 3-of-7 from deep in the first half against the Celtics before being given the second half off.
The Sixers’ second-round pick on the other hand, had a much more simple go of things.
Bona’s ability to protect the rim and alter shots was on display from the first game and he never let up. He finished the summer averaging 2.6 blocks over eight games.
He is definitely still a work in progress. His aggressiveness has and will almost certainly in the future get him into foul trouble, and his rebounding prowess isn’t quite what you would want for this team, but the positives far outweighed the negatives in these eight games.
The first unexpected guy to really pop this summer, Aluma was very productive from the very first game in Utah. He finished the summer averaging 9.7 points per game coming off the bench.
After spending a few seasons in Korea and Japan, the 25-year-old looked like a fairly seasoned big, even slotting up to the power forward when the team wanted to mix him in to more lineups.
While he is probably best utilized as a five, he did hold his own trying to do other things. He stepped out and made 38.8% of his three-point attempts.
Because of his age, a two-way deal probably doesn’t make sense for him. The team probably wants to keep those spots open for someone younger with more upside.
But he could be in line for an Exhibit-10 deal, which could still allow him to play for the Sixers through training camp and the Blue Coats for the regular season.
Now, for one of the guys currently occupying a two-way spot. The Imhotep product had some moments this summer.
He took some gambles defensively that paid off, and had some games where he looked really good offensively when the shot was falling.
He shot only 27.3 from deep over the summer though. While he might have the body of an NBA player, his ability to hang around might simply come down to hitting shots.
Another guy who made the conversation around two-way spots interesting, Mintz came along as the summer progressed.
It took him a few games to find his footing offensively, but his motor and intensity made him a pain in the ass for whoever he was guarding that night.
Finishing on a high note, Mintz’s 18-point performance against the Celtics raised his points per game average for the summer up to 9.5 points per game.
While Dowtin may have just snagged the last two-way spot, the Sixers could move on from Edwards or David Jones if they wanted to.
As of now, the final player occupying a two-way spot for Philadelphia. Like Mintz, Jones really has ended his summer well, with 15 points against the Spurs on Friday, then a game-high 23 points against the Celtics.
Those two games helped bring Jones’ three-point percentage up to 38.8% for the summer.
His profile is pretty similar to Edwards, he’s an athletic wing who is still very young and kind of rough around the edges. They’re also both left handed, for what it’s worth.
Jones had a lot of moments early on where he looked totally out of control, but he was able to hone it in over the last couple of games.
Neither him or Edwards played well enough to guarantee their two-way spot over Mintz, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can build off of his strong finish.
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