Cooney: Who will make the Sixers roster?

LAS VEGAS - If one thing has been proved so far with the 76ers' participation in the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues, once you get around the wild expectations surrounding top pick Ben Simmons, it's that the roster that will open the season is still in flux, and that just how rotations or starters may play out is nowhere close to being settled.

When the team opens the season in late October, 15 players will make up the roster, and there very well could be someone out there who isn't on the team right now who will make up a part of that 15. But just in case a trade doesn't happen before then, let's take a look at how the roster might work out.

Wednesday, the team signed 6-3 combo guard Jerryd Bayless and 6-3 point guard Sergio Rodriguez. An NBA vagabond joining his seventh team in nine years, Bayless, 27, could be a decent fit in the backcourt because of his shooting. When given the chance to launch, Bayless has shown he is quite effective. Three times over the past four seasons, Bayless has surpassed than 200 three-point attempts. In those three seasons, he shot 38.5 percent from beyond the arc. In his other seasons, he has shot only 33.9 percent from three.

Rodriguez, 30, has played only 285 NBA games, the last in the 2009-10 season. He has played in the Euroleague for six seasons with Real Madrid, and has had success - he was league MVP in 2014 and his team won the title in 2015. He is a flashy point guard who has the ability to knock down outside shots and will become one of the few veterans in a very young Sixers locker room.

Gerald Henderson's signing appears to have given coach Brett Brown his starting shooting guard.

More a scorer than a shooter, Henderson is a solid offensive player in the NBA who can create for himself. His true worth to this team, however, will be as a very good perimeter defender, something the team sorely lacks.

T.J. McConnell probably will make the team as a backup point, and Nik Stauskas probably will get another season to prove he can be a threat from outside.

Don't expect the team to exercise its option on Kendall Marshall.

The Sixers picked up their option on Hollis Thompson, who does fill a need, having shot 39.1 percent from three during his first three seasons with the team. The problem is, Thompson provides little else and can disappear for long periods of time. He probably will stick, however.

Rookie Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot shows signs of being able to play in the league, but probably not right now. He needs to play and develop, so he'll make the roster, but spend most of his time with the Delaware 87ers.

It's a little too soon to call Simmons otherworldly, but his ability as a 6-10 forward to pass and handle the ball hasn't seen in the NBA in a very, very long time, if ever. He will be the focus of the offense for Brown, and just about everything will flow through him. He is that good already.

Dario Saric, who most likely will be with the team this season, had a terrific performance for his Croatian team in the Olympic qualifying tournament that ended this past weekend. His game is a mix of finesse and toughness. He has really good court vision and passing skills, along with a good ability to find contact around the basket. He almost certainly will become a Philly fan favorite with his tough style of play.

Out of the six players at this position, only one provides NBA three-point range - Robert Covington. He will see plenty of time on the court for space to open for Simmons and the center trio of Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Covington averaged close to 13 points last season and upped his rebounding (6.3) and steal (1.6) totals over the prior season to improve defensively.

Jerami Grant, Carl Landry and Christian Wood are power forwards (although Wood is reportedly signing with Charlotte). Grant's improvement seems to have stalled a bit since his first season, especially offensively, where he hasn't been able to improve his outside shooting and his drives to the basket are often without thought, instead of looking for and creating contact. His defense, especially off-the-ball shot blocking is a bonus, and the fact that he can cover three positions is intriguing.

Wood has looked like a really good summer-league player and put up numbers with Delaware last season in the D-League, but the number of bigs here doesn't bode well for him, so his making the club is a longshot. The veteran Landry is owed $6.75 million this season, but it's hard to imagine he'll be here.

The most talked-about position all summer. How can Embiid, Okafor and Noel fit together?

Perhaps they can't, but if the team does decide to keep the big three to begin the season, something must be figured out. Okafor will need a defender with him, Noel will need offense surrounding him and Embiid will just have to get used to the NBA after missing 2 1/2 years of basketball.

To begin the season, Embiid's minutes will be limited - he won't play in back-to-games and the caution the team will show might frustrate fans. That, however, will give the coaching staff some more time to figure out how these three best fit together, as it would be surprising if all the restrictions on Embiid are pulled before Christmas.

Richaun Holmes could stick in the NBA for years to come. The Sixers' numbers just don't work for him, but unless the team can unload him for some value, he'll be on the roster.

That makes 15. For the time being. The real work now starts for Brown, as he figures out how he'll be able to put it all together. It might not work right away, but it should be fun to watch.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog