Scottie Wilbekin hopes to shoot his way onto 76ers
LAS VEGAS - It can be argued that Scottie Wilbekin trumps Jahlil Okafor as the most impressive 76er at the NBA Summer League.
LAS VEGAS - It can be argued that Scottie Wilbekin trumps Jahlil Okafor as the most impressive 76er at the NBA Summer League.
Even after a horrid shooting performance Wednesday, Wilbekin remains one of the league's top three-point shooters.
The 6-foot-2 point guard is averaging 16.2 points and has made 14 of 29 three-pointers (48.3 percent) in his four summer-league games. He also has made all nine of his foul shots while averaging 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals in 29 minutes.
Wilbekin's lone subpar performance came when he missed 6 of 7 three-pointers Wednesday in a playoff loss to the Brooklyn Nets. He made 5 of 15 shots overall and finished with 11 points.
He'll get an opportunity to avenge that performance Friday in a consolation game against the Houston Rockets at Cox Pavilion.
For a Sixers team in need of more shooters, the 22-year-old could be a good fit. However, Wilbekin says he won't concentrate heavily on trying to make three-pointers in the hope of securing a roster spot.
"You can't really focus on that," he said. "You've got to do what you are good at and hope that somebody notices you [doing] what you are good at. You don't want to get out of what you do as a player. So I'm just trying to do what I'm good at."
Regardless of what he does Friday, Wilbekin already has made an impression on the coaching staff during his second summer-league stint with the Sixers.
After he went undrafted out of Florida in 2014, he appeared in six games last summer with the Sixers in Las Vegas. But Wilbekin struggled mightily, missing all 13 of his three-point attempts and shooting 50 percent from the foul line.
After the summer league, he played professionally last season in Australia and Greece.
"That's been a great surprise, how well he's shooting the ball," said assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, who is coaching the summer league team. "With each game, confidence builds. I think his confidence is supreme right now."
In addition to being a stellar long-range shooter, Wilbekin has been a standout defender.
However, there might not be enough space for him on the Sixers' roster as a point guard. The team already has four under contract in Tony Wroten, Isaiah Canaan, Pierre Jackson, and T.J. McConnell.
Pierce was asked if he thinks Wilbekin can play shooting guard in the NBA.
"If you put the ball in his hands, he's able to make plays," Pierce said. "He's played point guard his entire life. But if he's shooting the ball that well, you can put him off the ball as well. So I think so."
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