Holiday, Christmas, Speights to play on Sixers/Nets team in summer league

"We won't be running it, because we're sharing the roster with the Nets," Sixers president/general manager Ed Stefanski said. "We'll run the regular pro offense, with a lot of pick-and-roll. We'll talk about other things in the minicamp and during our practices when the league starts, but our hope is to get Jrue some playing time at the point, to see him play with and against guys with pro experience."

Holiday, at 19 one of the six youngest players taken in last week's draft, spent one season at UCLA, but played shooting guard in deference to senior point guard Darren Collison. He emerged as the No. 17 pick, selected just ahead of North Carolina's Ty Lawson (Minnesota Timberwolves, traded to the Denver Nuggets) and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague (Atlanta Hawks), the other point guards who were the Sixers' primary targets.

As for Temple's Dionte Christmas, who went undrafted, an invitation to join the Sixers/Nets roster was just the start of opportunity knocking. Christmas spent the weekend at a Cleveland Cavaliers minicamp, joining a group that included fringe pros Rawle Marshall, Aaron Miles, Dijon Thompson, Jerome Moiso and John Peter Ramos.

According to agent Andre Buck, Christmas is more than coping with the non-occurrence of draft night.

"So many times, you hear how it's better to go undrafted once it gets late in the second round," Buck said. "We had a number of teams call, talking about the Nos. 45-60 range, but for a variety of reasons it never happened. But Dionte's spirits are good; he's a positive kid. He's possibly more driven now than he was before."

Stefanski tendered the invitation to Christmas at about 1 a.m. Friday morning.

"Ed's call was really big," Buck said. "It's always good to hear from teams, but it's different when the call comes from the general manager rather than a member of his staff. Dionte was really excited about that."

Christmas is the first player to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring in three successive seasons and is Temple's career leader in three-point field goals. Whatever his future might be, Buck laughed and said, "Sixers fans know the team has a need for what he does."

The Sixers will open their five-game summer schedule July 6 against the Indiana Pacers, then face the Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics on successive days.

Both the Sixers and the Nets will have coaching personnel on the bench. The designated Sixers representative is likely to be Aaron McKie, with head coach Eddie Jordan, lead assistant Mike O'Koren and Stefanski watching from a distance.

Second-year big man Marreese Speights is on the roster, along with first-round Nets pick Terrence Williams and second-year man Chris Douglas-Roberts. The Sixers' free-agent contingent includes former Penn Charter and Notre Dame star Rob Kurz, who appeared in 40 games with the Golden State Warriors last season; point guard Blake Ahearn, the NBA Developmental League 2007-08 Rookie of the Year; D-League forward Gary Forbes, who spent two seasons each at Virginia and Massachusetts; and forward Marcus Slaughter, who has logged time in Turkey, Israel, Germany and France.

Six Shots

 

Referencing a rumor in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, speculation revolved around the possibility of a deal sending Miami's Jermaine O'Neal and Daequan Cook to the Sixers for Elton Brand. The speculation was apparently based on the fact that the Heat had signed Brand to an offer sheet several years ago, only to see the Los Angeles Clippers match. When asked about the rumor, Ed Stefanski said, "Absolutely not." How about the chances that such an offer was made? "Zero," Stefanski said . . .

Jrue Holiday and Marreese Speights will also participate in Tim Grgurich's skills camp later this summer . . . Teams can begin negotiating with free agents Wednesday, but cannot finalize deals until July 9. The Sixers, having spent major money on Andre Iguodala and Brand, aren't in a financial nor personnel position to bid for the top unrestricted players, including Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu, Houston's Ron Artest, Toronto's Shawn Marion and Chicago's Ben Gordon. *

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