WILMINGTON, DE — The Philadelphia 76ers made their annual trip to the Chase Fieldhouse, the home of their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, to play their intrasquad scrimmage in front of fans who might not get the chance to see them regularly up in Philly. Most of the Sixers players won’t see the place again until next year. Some, though, got their first chance to play somewhere they will soon grow familiarity with.
The Sixers' scrimmage drew a solid crowd at Chase Fieldhouse, where the Blue Coats will look to defend their league championship from last season, and interacted with fans by signing gear, taking pictures and launching merchandise into the crowd. But with two more preseason games left and then a whole season to follow it was mostly a chance for less-known guys to hit the court. Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker, Danny Green, Patrick Beverley, Furkan Korkmaz and Danuel House Jr. didn’t play. Tyrese Maxey only played a little bit.
For the vast majority of the afternoon, fans got to see what the Sixers' youngest players can do. Terquavion Smith scored on a few tough layups at the rim. Ricky Council IV showed off his tantalizing athleticism with some firm drives of his own and loud dunks. Along with Azuolas Tubelis, Filip Petrusev, David Duke Jr. and Javonte Smart, the young guys who don’t project to be in the rotation provided the bulk of the basketball being played on Saturday afternoon.
While Philly looks to compete for an NBA title, the franchise knows the importance of keeping the farm system going strong. Smith, Council and Tubelis are all rookies who are beginning their NBA careers on two-way contracts. Such deals only allow them to be active for 50 games with the Sixers. In order for the investments in their two-way players to pay off, Nick Nurse explained that they have to see the court and put in the work.
“I just think that nobody gets better unless there's minutes on the court, right? So first and foremost, I want minutes for those guys,” Nurse said. “And then there's got to be opportunity, chances. That's usually talking about creating offense and shot attempts and all those kinds of things. I just think that you do have to focus in on those guys maximizing their time here and that means minutes and chances.”
In Nurse's previous gig as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors, management grew frustrated with the lack of growth from its younger, end-of-bench players. Nurse is no stranger to the player-development side of professional basketball, as his experience as a championship-winning G League head coach made Toronto originally pursue him as an addition to Dwane Casey's coaching staff. Yet the Raptors' brass's discontent with how Nurse handled some of the younger players contributed to his firing.
The Sixers offer Nurse a clearer picture of who to play by having a roster stocked mostly with veterans and having their rookies on contracts designed to make them G League regulars. Nonetheless, he is ensuring that the young guys get the environment they need to improve. Rather than use the Blue Coats purely as a lab for the Sixers to test concepts, as Daryl Morey did with Nurse's Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Houston Rockets, Nurse wants them to have their own unique elements on top of what Philly is looking to do.
Nurse said that Blue Coats head coach Mike Longabardi — the successor to Coby Karl, who joined Nurse's Sixers staff — are on the same page and encourages growing “synergy” with their systems by having the young guys around the Sixers as much as they can. Longabardi said that Nurse, who called the G League a “valuable training ground,” has been very helpful in fortifying a bridge between the two teams. From the outset, he believes the core of players for his first stint as a head coach will be great to work with.
“They've built the chemistry together,” Longabardi said of the prospective future Blue Coats, noting the work they have done in Summer League, offseason workouts and training camp. “Now, we just gotta hope that that transfers over from when we practice and play. I think it will. I think they're all hungry. I think they all love basketball, they love to play and they want to get better.”
Jaden Springer reveals advice to younger Sixers
Jaden Springer, the 2023 G League Finals MVP, had a few nice moments in the building where he developed his game. After playing with the Blue Coats for two seasons and getting recalled and sent back down on what felt like an endless loop, he is making a good case for a role with the Sixers as a scrappy, defensive-minded reserve. While he does that, he's leaving his probable successors with pertinent advice.
“You go there and that's where you get better. Just work on your game,” Springer recalls telling Smith and Council when they asked him about his experience in the G League. The Sixers' guard preached to the rookies that they should “attack with the right mindset” with the Blue Coats in order to make their stints pay off.
Smith, Council and Tubelis should have plenty of chances to lead the Blue Coats following a roster shake-up. Members of the championship-winning team from last season have moved onto new homes and Springer is likely due for a promotion to the Sixers' rotation. Smith and Council offered praise for Longabardi for the work he has already done with them and Springer for providing a great example of how to carry on the Blue Coats' success.
“It's a lot you can take from Springer, just about him playing hard, always playing hard and he always gives it his all when he's on the court,” Smith said. “So I feel like we can just take that from him and carry it on.” When it comes to improving his game, Smith said that “building chemistry and always giving out good energy” will be important. Council added that being coachable is a big part of that, too.
The Sixers and Blue Coats will be pulling in the same direction, though providing force through different means. The work in the minor league doesn’t always produce results that make it to the main stage. But even with a team looking to compete for the grand prize now, the Sixers aren’t neglecting its importance.
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