The Philadelphia 76ers begin their first summer league in Utah as they’re part of a four-team, six-game stint with the Jazz, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics from July 6-9 at EnergySolutions Arena. It’ll be the first action for the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft Jahlil Okafor since his National Championship victory in the NCAA Tournament.
Seven undrafted free agents from the 2015 draft will make up the majority of the 76ers’ roster. Askia Booker from Colorado, K.T. Harrell from Auburn, Vince Hunter from UTEP, Charles Jackson from Tennessee Tech, Jamal Jones from the Delaware 87ers, David Laury from Iona, T.J. McConnell and Steve Zack from La Salle are the undrafted invitees. Joining them is Pierre Jackson, Jordan McRae, JaKarr Sampson and Arsalan Kazemi.
It’s not a great representation of who will be on Philadelphia’s roster when the regular season tips off, even with the organization looking for ways to rebuild their relationship with the fan base after Philadelphia’s “tanking” efforts in recent seasons. Philadelphia 76ers tickets will remain cheap on the secondary market until a proven product is shown.
But there are always diehard fans that want to be part of every process of the team, even the long, arduous rebuilding one. Flights to and from Salt Lake City can be booked through Hipmunk.com for an early basketball destination vacation. With the games spanning over four days, hotels in Salt Lake City starting from $52 can be reserved as well, making Hipmunk the one-stop shop for Sixers’ fans.
As for their 2015 draft picks, Okafor is slated to be starting right away, given the less-than-stellar news about last year’s first-round pick Joel Embiid and the recovery of his surgically-repaired foot. The 76ers have been active this offseason in the meantime, acquiring Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry from the Sacramento Kings in a move that many say they got the better end of.
Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington, Nerlens Noel, Tony Wroten, and Jerami Grant will probably warrant most of the playing time in the beginning of the season, all displaying notable potential at certain points throughout these past couple of lost seasons in Philadelphia.
The way-too-early projected starting lineup figures to be Canaan (while Wroten is recovering from injury), Stauskas, Okafor, Noel and Grant.
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