Rebuilding Sixers to show glimpses of new team in Summer League

THE 76ERS loaded up a contingent of veterans, draft picks and hopefuls yesterday and shipped them to Salt Lake City for three games, starting tonight, in the Utah Jazz Summer League.

The big story for the team, of course, will be the play of Jahlil Okafor, taken with the third overall pick in last month's draft. In workouts leading up to the trip west, Okafor talked of wanting to dominate. His teammates have marveled at what he can do inside the paint.

Almost all eyes will focus on him not only in Utah, but also when he joins the team's invitees in Las Vegas for that summer league, which will begin for the Sixers on Saturday.

Still, there are plenty of other story lines to follow, especially at the point guard spot.

The Sixers' regular-season lineup is loaded with big men, with Nerlens Noel and the hope of a healthy Joel Embiid. They addressed the shooting guard spot a bit by acquiring Nik Stauskas in a trade last week with the Sacramento Kings. But the point guard spot is still a question. Tony Wroten is coming off a torn ACL and though Isaiah Canaan joined the team late last season, he is more of a shooter than a playmaker. Those are really the only two lead guards on the roster.

Two players to keep an eye on as possible fill-ins are T.J. McConnell, an Arizona product who will also play in Las Vegas, and Jordan McRae, who was a late add-on to the Utah roster.

McConnell averaged 10.4 points and 6.3 assists for the Wildcats last season. He spent his first two years playing at Duquesne before spending the last two at Arizona. He is a pass-first point, a decent shooter and a pesky defender.

"The first thing that you see from him is that he understands his role," Sixers assistant Billy Lange, who will be coaching the group in Utah, said of McConnell. "He's setting the floor for people. He communicates and has a feel for whether a player has or has not touched the ball on a few trips down and immediately tries to get everyone involved. In the summer league, that's important because these guys are just getting to know each other. You want to develop some chemistry and I think T.J. has a feel for how to do that.''

McConnell also said he focuses on working toward what's best for his team.

"I'm just coming in here to try and show that I can run a team and play hard, that's all I can do," said the 6-3 McConnell. "I can't think outside the box and try to be someone that I'm not. That will just make me look bad. Just running the team and playing hard on defense and shooting open shots, that's all I can do.''

The up-tempo style that Brett Brown employs is a fit that McConnell finds attractive.

"I know they love to get out and run and I did that at Arizona," McConnell said. "That was a big part of why I'm here. They've got great guards here, I'm just trying to come in here and play hard.''

McRae, who was the second leading scorer in the Australian League before coming back and getting in games with the Sixers' Development League affiliate Delaware 87ers, says he's broadened his game since being traded to the Sixers on draft night last year after four years at Tennessee.

"I think that I have a better shot than I did last year," McRae said. "I had a chance to work on a lot of things. I think me being here for pretty much the whole summer helped my game out a lot. Building a relationship with the coaches and other players during the summer has helped me a lot.

"I've been playing some point here. I know I can score, but me being able to be a playmaker, a lot of people don't know that. I also think I'm a lot better on defense than I was this time last year."

Jerami Grant, now entering his second season, could turn out to be just as big a story as Okafor after Utah. The 6-8 swingman put on 10 pounds of muscle and appears to be longer and taller since last season. A tireless worker, he will be looking to shine in Utah.

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