76ers face inevitable reality with their youth movement in loss versus Thunder

Less than five minutes before the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder tipped off, a single tweet drained the excitement from the matchup. The Athletic’s Tony Jones reported that V.J. Edgecombe was ruled out with a thumb contusion. If at that moment you were ruled out, I can’t say I blame you. Oklahoma City ended up smoking Philadelphia 89-78 and all notable prospects flatlined amidst Edgecombe’s absence. Tonight's performance can be chalked up to youthful growing pains, so let's get into it.

Edwards is ice cold

Justin Edwards followed up a suboptimal Summer League debut with yet another disappointing outing. He notched 11 points on 3-11 shooting from the field, six rebounds, and five assists. In his defense, Edwards was taken out of his off-ball comfort zone throughout most of the game. Presumably by design, he was utilized as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and on-ball creator and it was a work in progress to say the least. 

Edwards forced a plethora of contested pull-ups and lay-ins without scanning the floor to create an advantage. There were glimpses like in the first half where he collapsed the defense off a pick-and-roll to generate a corner triple for Johni Broome. Still, those moments were far and few in between as his steals matched his assists (five). What matters is that he’s getting on-ball reps and it’s better for him to endure growing pains now than next season.

Bona and Sallis went quiet

After a convincing outing against the Utah Jazz, Adem Bona put up a quiet four points on 0-2 shooting from the field, three rebounds, and two stocks (steals and blocks). While Bona still provided solid defensive value, his offensive progression didn’t continue tonight. All of his points came from the foul line as a result of awkward line drives off the point-of-attack. 

The Thunder guarded Bona with more physicality, which proved disruptive. Still, he remained aggressive, which should count for something. It’s also worth noting he wasn’t maximized as a roll-man as Philadelphia desperately lacks a traditional point guard to run the offense. While Jalen Hood-Schifino and Judah Mintz combined for 38 points, the lack of structure in the 76ers allowed the Thunder to easily force turnovers and get transition opportunities.

Hunter Sallis also made his Summer League debut and it left a lot to be desired. He finished with three points on 0-2 shooting from the field, three rebounds, and one block. Sallis looked passive as he was easily deterred from attacking the rim when faced with a bit of perimeter resistance. Maybe he needed tonight to get the nerves out of his system.

Broome can shoot?

If there’s any positive to take away from tonight it’s Johni Broome’s perimeter shooting. Through two Summer League games, he’s shooting a convincing 44.4% (4-9) from beyond the arc. He’s being utilized in pick-and-pops and has been confidently letting it fly off the catch. Time will tell if this will translate next season, but there’s no reason not to be encouraged. Broome also held his own defending in space once more.

In brutal fashion, Philadelphia will face the Memphis Grizzlies on July 8th at 7pm EST on the second leg of a back-to-back. To put it lightly, tonight was a rough watch and if Edgecombe remains out tomorrow, it may be another tough one. Jones stated that Edgecombe’s injury isn’t considered serious as he’s precautionarily listed as day-to-day.