The Philadelphia 76ers started off their Las Vegas Summer League with a matchup against the Detroit Pistons. The Sixers picked up a 94-81 win after embarking on a huge run down the stretch.
After three games in Salt Lake City, where the trio of Jared McCain, Ricky Council IV and Adem Bona all had their respective moments of brilliance, the Sixers faced No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland and a crew from the Motor City that featured a few players very likely to be featured on the main roster. With Tyrese Maxey, Nick Nurse and Daryl Morey in attendance, the Sixers, led by huge outings from Ricky Council IV (24 points), Keve Aluma (19 points and eight rebounds) and Jeff Dowtin Jr. (18 points and eight assists), pulled out a solid win.
Here are three takeaways from the 76ers' Las Vegas Summer League opener.
Jared McCain's pick-and-roll potential
McCain — or “McClain” as the ESPN broadcast kept incorrectly calling him — hasn’t looked quite as good as he did in the 76ers' first Summer League game but that doesn’t mean he won’t stay on the attack. With crafty scoring and shooting confidence, he once again flashed his potential and had a better game in the eye test than the stats test.
McCain's playmaking shined on a behind-the-back dish to Keve Aluma in the pick-and-roll. On another with Bona, he snaked to the other side of the court and swished a pull-up look. He didn’t have that many chances to run those at Duke but has shown the patient, physical driving and playmaking feel to suggest he could be quite good at them. There was one with Bona in the fourth where he could have lobbed it for the big man but opted for a floater that just rimmed out.
As far as his scoring efficiency, McCain hasn’t been good in his past few games. He shot 4-14 from the field and 1-6 from deep in this game. But although the results haven’t been great, his process has been really promising.
Adem Bona's defense is already improving
Like all big men, Bona will have to learn to balance his ability to alter shots without being susceptible to fouling. Already, he has done a much better job staying grounded as Summer League continues.
On the very first possession, Bona did a nice job containing wing Wendell Moore Jr. and then slid down to contest big man Tolu Smith, who scored just before the shot-clock buzzer on a difficult layup. Bona raised his two hands right up when the Pistons got the ball at the doorstep of the rim. His ability to get back into the paint after playing at the level of the screen or doubling will go a very long way in making him a versatile defender.
It may be particularly tough for Bona to just rely on verticality given his size. He's surely going to want to contest opposing bigs as well as he can – and who can blame him? But forcing misses and trusting his teammates to collect the miss is how he'll stay on the court going forward, as will covering ground in a hurry.
Bona did a nice job jumping to contest Holland on a backdoor cut but got whistled for his first shooting foul of the game. Saving his fouls for when he has to make (or at least attempt) big plays like those will go a long way.
Jeff Dowtin Jr. is worth keeping around
Dowtin was expected to only be available for the Summer Sixers in Salt Lake City but ended up making the trip to the desert. He made clear once again that he can really ball.
Dowtin doesn’t stand out as a hungry scorer or a dynamic force on offense yet he still manages to be. He can shoot the ball well from deep and knows how to get a defender off his path, opening up the paint as he keeps the defender on his hip. He can stop on a dime to expose a bad angle or pull up from the mid-range and is capable of reading the floor.
The bulk of the Summer Sixers' playmaking comes from the veteran Dowtin, who notched eight of the team's 14 assists in this game. No other player had multiple assists. He teamed up with Aluma, another player who’s older and more polished than the typical Summer Leaguer, for a lethal pick-and-pop game in the fourth quarter.
The 76ers still have to fill out the back of their roster. They had to decline Dowtin's player option because they needed the cap space but they should still offer him the minimum (which is all they can do now) to stick around. Having him as a depth piece would be really good.
The 76ers' next Summer League game is on Monday at 8:30 P.M. EST against the Portland Trail Blazers.
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