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Sixers Release Summer League Rosters: Who To Watch (Besides Jahlil Okafor)

By George Kondoleon

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As Sixers.com announced, the 76ers announced their invitees for both the Utah Jazz Summer League and the Samsung NBA Summer League hosted in Las Vegas. As expected, Joel Embiid will not be participating in either league. That does not take away from the excitement of seeing which young and hungry players show off their skills greatly enough to make the team. Top pick Jahlil Okafor and undrafted rookie T.J. McConnell will be participating in both leagues. Here are the players you should be watching, besides Jahlil Okafor, who will always have eyes on him until the start of the season.

Let’s take a look at the Utah Jazz Summer League roster.

Who To Watch: 

J.P. Tokoto G, UNC

Tokoto was selected in the 2nd round of the 2015 NBA draft and he is certainly a player you should want to watch for one reason and one reason only, this man can fly. Tokoto has shown out of this world athleticism at North Carolina and even put a few of his draft classmates on posters during the combine games.

Tokoto has a great shot of making the team because of his defensive ability and unstoppable motor, however will not solve a weakness the Sixers have seemed to fail to address, 3-pt shooting. In his 3 seasons at UNC, Tokoto shot a poor 27% from the 3-pt line. Tokoto is an interesting player and seems to have the grit and grind that Philadelphia will admire.

Jerami Grant F, Sixers

Grant already has a year of development under his belt and is looking to improve on a respectable season for a 2nd round rookie. Grant has seen a huge improvement in his outside shot since college and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it going. He is already a fine athlete who uses it to his advantage on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Grant is an interesting player with a ton of upside and can prove to be an important part to this rebuild.

Here is the Sixers’ schedule for the Utah Jazz Summer League.

Lets move on to the Las Vegas Summer League Roster.

Who To Watch

Pierre Jackson G, Fenerbache Ulker (Turkey)

Jackson’s name is the first one that stands out to me on this list. Jackson was drafted by the Sixers in the 2013 NBA Draft, was traded a month later to the Pelicans in the Jrue Holiday trade, played a half season in the D-League, another half in Turkey, before being traded back to the Sixers for Russ Smith on the night of the 2014 NBA Draft. Pierre ruptured his achilles in last year’s Summer League play and he is more motivated than anyone to impress during this year’s games. Jackson can fill the need of a point guard with both excellent court vision and a consistent 3-pt shot. He is also a very bouncy guard even with his 5’9″ frame.

He averaged 6.5 assists and 16.7 points per game while shooting 38% from 3-point range in 2 seasons at Baylor University. Everyone should be rooting for this kid, who is clearly dying to play for the Sixers and trying to prove he can ball.

Jordan McRae G, Delaware Sevens

McRae is yet another 2nd round pick with NBA contributor-type potential. McRae is projected to make the team and that is a key reason to watch him. He even made a laughable appearance at the Sixers jersey unveiling!  Sevens fans got to see a lot of McRae in the last half of the season as he averaged an impressive 18.4 ppg in 13 games with Delaware. McRae can give the Sixers a dynamic offensive attack with his impressive outside shot and his ability to get to the rim. McRae will be exciting to watch in the Summer League, and hopefully at the start of the regular season.

Here is the team’s schedule for the Samsung NBA Summer League.

After months without Sixers basketball, Summer League will be a great way to get to know some of the newer Sixers. How do you guys feel about the roster?

How often do you watch Summer League basketball?

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