Maurice Harkless and Sixers compete in first Summer Legue game
Maurice Harkless is ailed by a sore hip flexor. He still played in the first Summer League game for the Sixers, showing some flashes of what the team is expecting from him.
Maurice Harkless and Sixers compete in first Summer Legue game
Bob Cooney
Maurice Harkless scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds in his Summer League debut as the team lost to the Indiana Pacers by 69-63.
Harkess is hampered by a strained left hip flexor, an injury he sustained about six weeks ago while working out. It didn't appear to hinder him too much during his 23 minutes.
“I felt all right,” said Harkless, who went for nine points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. “I hurt it about a month or so but I just have to fight through it. This was my first time actually playing. Once I got warmed up and everything it really wasn’t bothering me too much.”
This Summer League isn’t about what Harkless is doing now but how it will help him in the future. That’s where the organization sees him helping them the most.
“Right now I’m just looking to get some experience, get up and down and have fun and show what I can do.”
“He’s been out pretty much all camp and really this was his first practice run,” said assistant coach Aaron McKie. “He did pretty a pretty good job out there. We had him playing multiple positions. I like what I saw out there on the court. He’s 19, he’s a kid. He has to get used to the speed of the game, the strength of the game. He’ll be fine. I think he’s going to be a heck of a defender, he can move his feet. He just has to work on the nuances on the offensive end as far as getting himself open. Those things will come. Just the raw skills in the guy, he certainly has those things. ”
Second year big men Nikola Vucevic and Lavoy Allen watched the action from the bench, but for different reasons. Vucevic did not play due to a left Achilles’ strain, while Allen can’t play until he signs his new 2-year contract on Wednesday. He was heading back to Philadelphia to get a physical and the plan was for him to come back to Orlando to perhaps play in the final two games Thursday and Friday. Rookie Arnett Moultrie, who just had a boot removed from a sprained left ankle, didn’t play and is expected to be out all week.
In the 69-63 loss to the Pacers, guard Jacob Pullen came off the bench to lead the team with 15 points. Xavier Silas added 10 as did University of Washington product Justin Holiday, the brother of Sixers starting point guard Jrue Holiday.
yeah, your prediction is def starting to scare me. i have a hunch dejuan blair is on the way. Not that he is the answer, but he might be better then anything we currently have. ixers front office is against players that can shoot the ball. its sad. Yeah I got toke up to watch these games. its really pathietic. we seriously should have drafted Sullinger at 15 and then traded for perry jones the 3rd. I like Harkless. But I can see Sulinger making us pay for our decision for years to come. i just dont understand. you amnestied brand to do something. if you fail fine, but Humph will accept a 1 year deal, and we have money so there is really no excuse for y we shouldnt bring him in as a stop gap for a year! geez— johnGiam- I guess everyone forgets how awful Evan Turner looked in summer league action to the point many who were thrilled that the Sixers drafted him were calling him a bust and a huge mistake before training camp even started— MrSmithTP
- And what's your point?...He's at the halfway point in his contract, and to date, he's a b u _ _. — bearsfriend
- What you have is what you will start season with.
Only 7 million left, is just enough $ to sign the rookies and fill out roster w/ bench players.
Lose Brand, Williams, and Meeks, get Young, Harkless, and Moultrie.
Iggy has the option in 13, so no real free agent changes till 14.— camasbud - $7 million is what the Sixers will have left after the rookie contracts (they are slated in the NBA and easy to predict). You can sign a player for or two with the $7 million and then fill out the roster with minimum contracts which you are still aloud to make after hitting the cap. Currently 10 players under contract. I'd still like to see a starting 4 and a back up point guard. At least one of whom should be a shooter. — BeFrank
- Chuck: Yes Pullen did bang a couple threes and he clearly out classed Silas, but neither did a good job of running the offense. Not sure what the team plans on doing for a backup pg, but I don't see either player sticking. As you said I don't think anyone outside of Vuc, Lavoy, and the draft picks that will be on this team. You are spot on by the lack of fundamentals and players who can't shoot. Either way you would like to see Vuc and Allen dominating when they get a chance to play and hopefully we will see Harkless become more assertive as the games go on.— Mattb
- seeing MH's body for the first time in live action quickly brought home the reality for me that the kid is a year removed from high school. outliers like Lebron and Amare obscure the fact normally a pro bball body doesn't develop till the mid 20s. Maurice is not going to be grabbing many hotly contested 4q rebounds for us any time soon. based on what we saw the first game my assumption is unless we see the coaching staff this week insist the guards stop their gunning ways then we will not see much offensively from MH, which would indicate to me DC will not be looking for much during the regular season either. I hope we see a change in direction in game two.— barrywil
- Vucevic still has a Achilles strain? The season ended 2 months ago. Will we be reading about this in October? He shouldn't even be there if it's strained.
— scootch - Camasbud, the 7 million is after taking account of the rookie contracts and the minimum salary for the other roster slots. 7 can be used for one player signed or in addition to a trade for a more expensive player. They need a starting PF.— craigmack
- craigmack...hope you are right, just looked at cap numbers again and it is about 7 mil left with 5 players to pay. Google nba salary cap, shows all the teams and salary for each player.— camasbud
- Afraid Sixers are done making BIG moves! If they think Young is the cureall for this team they are making a huge mistake. Still need a real shooter,backup point guard & a rebounder. Please trade Iggy for players or piks .. his stats not worth the salary he counts against the Cap!!!!— bill poore
- The game is played on the court, not on paper. Iggy is on the Olympic team for his defense and that is not an easy thing to see on a stat page. That being said, I agree it is time to trade Iggy. His value is as high as it will be, and remember last year how long it took him to recover from playing on the national team? We are rebuilding, getting even younger. Let Iggy go for a ring somewhere, and build a team that can come in to its own in a couple of years. — BeFrank
- Okay, time to come out of the closet. I'm a cap geek. Approx. salaries in millions (these are my estimates):
Iggy $14.7
Thad $8
Nick Young $6
Hawes $6
Turner $5.3
Allen $2.8
Holiday $2.7
Nik $1.8
Harkless $1.7
Arnett $1
Total $50. Depending on how Hawes and Allen's contracts were structured, it could be up to $1 million more. Approx cap, $58 million.— BeFrank - BTW, assuming Iggy takes his player option for $15.9 million next year, Sixers will have 9 players under contract totaling $50, but in the following year, 2014, only 5 players (Thad, Turner, Nik, Harkless and Arnett) for $23.8 million. — BeFrank
- The cap has not been again set at 58 million yet...Some feel it will be bumped up to 60.— bearsfriend
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
