The Philadelphia 76ers will take the court in two different summer leagues, and their rosters are full of undiscovered talents. Here are the guards.
It’s July 4th weekend, and while many across the country are preparing for barbecues, fireworks, and lawn games, the Philadelphia 76ers are preparing to kick off their summer season. The series of summer league games that the NBA puts on every year are fantastic for showcasing young talent.
Whether it’s the first overall pick, or an undrafted free agent that the Sixers are giving a shot, it’s great to see the young talent fight for a roster spot. Really, summer league is one of the only times that we get to see truly competitive basketball. Almost every player on every roster is fighting hard for their shot in the NBA, and that can lead to some really fantastic basketball.
I expect no less from the Sixers rosters as summer league approaches, and ultimately begins on the fourth.
The Sixers have put together a full roster of 15 players, some drafted rookies, some players already with NBA experience, and some players who were undrafted out of college or international play. One interesting tidbit about this roster — it’s all guards and forwards, no centers.
What this could indicate is that we are going to see the Sixers go for a small-ball type of feel during summer league games, and possibly try to run some position-less schemes throughout the first few weeks of July.
I thought it would be good to get to know some of the players that the Sixers are bringing on that may have a shot at making the team’s final roster, or getting a call-back for training camp. Although I don’t expect very many of these “underdogs” to have a legitimate shot at making the team, I do think that if they perform well in summer league, they will get their chance.
What holds true about many of these guards is that they are solid shooters, and also have many years of basketball experience under their belt.
Here are the guards that the Sixers are bringing on and giving a chance to play alongside some of their more experienced players in summer league.
Next: Bryon Allen
Bryon Allen
Bryon Allen is a guard out of George Mason, and spent all four years of his college eligibility in college, so he’s coming in with a lot of basketball experience. Mason was a huge part of the team leadership in his final year playing.
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In that final year, Allen averaged 15.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.
Throughout his years of college ball, Allen demonstrated that he had the tools to be a decent shooter, hitting 43.6 percent of his shots from the field, and 31.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
What we also saw Allen was able to do was improve on that 3-point shooting over the years. By his senior year at George Mason, he improved his 3-point shooting to 39.5 percent.
Although 3-point shooting is probably what is most attractive to the Sixers at the moment, Allen also does a decent job of ball-handling and getting close to the hoop.
On this game winning shot at GM last season, he completely breaks down the defense, slithering into the paint like a snake of sorts to put the ball in the hoop and win the game for his team. I’d love to see the Sixers pick up a guy who can close out a game like that.
Allen seems to be a serious option for the Sixers if they’re looking to replace T.J. McConnell — who he will play alongside in summer league — as one of the backup point guards.
Next: Alex Caruso
Alex Caruso
Alex Caruso is yet another four-year student, and is more of a pass-happy guard than some of the others. Caruso was a role player for the Texas A&M team all four years of his attendance, as he averaged 8.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists during his time there.
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He shot 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point zone, and in general, we saw his field goal and 3-point percentages increase over his four years at A&M. Caruso’s freshman year closed off with 26.5 percent 3-point shooting, and his senior year finished with him shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. He improved it in every year that he played.
For Caruso’s size, he’s really explosive. In the fast break, Caruso can often beat his opponents in a foot race and then get up for a huge dunk to finish.
A&M saw a lot of of those fast breaks come off of steals, as Caruso was often one step ahead of the opposing team’s offense. He was able to easily jump ahead of passes and knock the ball loose, averaging 2.0 steals per game over the course of his career.
Caruso is a long shot to make the team since he doesn’t contribute a ton offensively, but if he can show that his 3-point shot really has improved over the years, the team may consider bringing him on.
Next: Maodo Lo
Maodo Lo
Maodo Lo is a German basketball player who spent the last four seasons playing for Columbia, an Ivy League institute. Although the Ivy league schools often get a bad rap for not regularly having competitive basketball teams, there’s often a good player every few years that makes it big in the NBA.
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Lo was consistent in his three final years at Columbia, after sitting, watching and learning a lot during his freshman season. He ended up being a solid player once he got the minutes to prove himself.
Throughout his career, freshman year taken into account as well, he averaged 16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists, shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
His shooting is solid, and he needs to be able to show that in summer league.
One of the biggest things that Lo has over the other players is experience on a national level. Germany is no Team USA, but it does have two solid player that Lo has on his resume as being a teammate with — Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Schroder.
Speaking about that with CSN Philadelphia, he said:
"“Dirk Nowitzki is a Hall of Famer. He’s one of the greatest players to ever play basketball. To be around him, you learn a lot and Dennis Schroder is a great up-and-coming talent who is a really nice guy and has helped me out a lot. We have a really good relationship and he gives me a lot of tips.”"
Dirk is a legend, and a likely Hall-of-Famer, while Schroder is one of the better up-and-coming NBA players. The fact that he’s coming into his undrafted NBA career already having played alongside them is special.
Another thing Lo has over these other summer league sleepers is his intelligence. Of course, he’s book smart, which is why he was at Columbia in the first place, but he’s also basketball smart.
Lo came in to do a pre-draft workout for the Sixers this season, and one of his 3-on-3 teammates had positive words to say about how smart he was.
"“He’s real smart. He makes pretty crisp decisions and he shoots the ball really well.”"
I would expect Lo to improve his teammates wherever he ends up in the NBA. Columbia’s offense was full of passes, sometimes seven or eight different ball touches before a shot went off, and I think Lo will be used to looking for the best possible shot on the floor when he gets a nod in the NBA.
Next: Kwame Vaughn
Kwame Vaughn
Kwame Vaughn transferred from San Fransisco to Cal State Fullerton hallway through his college career, but it didn’t seem to impact his college statistics very much. Vaughn is unique to this group because he was born and raised in the United Staes, went to school in the US, and then went overseas after college to play professional basketball.
Whether you choose to look at that as a positive or negative is up to you, but Vaughn has been done with college ball since 2013 after using up all four years of his eligibility.
With both schools taken into account, he averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 assist, and 2.8 rebounds over the course of his career. He shot 44.6 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from beyond the arc.
I’ve seen only a few clips of Vaughn since he went international, and it looks as if he’s paid attention to what’s currently popular in the NBA, and has tried to adjust his game accordingly, because he seems to have an emphasis on deep shots more than he did when he was in school.
Many draft experts say that Vaughn’s solid pick-and-roll game should help him ease into the NBA. Putting him next to a big man may help give him another layer to his impressive 3-point shot.
Next: Levi Randolph
Levi Randolph
Levi Randolph spent four years at Alabama, and then played in the D-League this past season.
During his time at Alabama, he wasn’t a truly impactful player until his senior year. On his career, he averaged 9.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, but in his final year he averaged 15.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
His best shooting year was his final year, going 48.1 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from the 3-point zone.
Before going to the D-League, Randolph did sign a contract with the Boston Celtics, but was waited after just a few months and no games with the team.
Randolph appeared in 50 D-League games for the Maine Red Claws this past season, which was tied for second in the entire D-League. While playing for the Claws, he averaged over 30 minutes per game, putting up 14.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. His total field goal percentage was similar to his senior year, but he nearly reached 40 percent from the 3-point zone, an impressive improvement, in his D-League rookie year.
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Although Randolph seems to have a lot of work to do before he’s NBA ready, just like many other of these prospects, if they can hit the 3-pointer, he could easily get a call-back by the team.