FanShot

Your Las Vegas Summer League Awards

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The biggest obstacle to Year 2 of Sam Hinkie’s PhilaTankia plan is certainly a healthy Nerlens Noel. Noel blew out his knee in February 2013, was drafted by the Pelicans with the sixth pick, then traded to the Sixers. In a showing of abundant care for the player’s long-term health, and a dearth of caring about winning actual basketball games, he was lovingly swaddled in bubble wrap and placed carefully in Hinkie’s desk drawer. And, hey, looking pretty good on both counts. The Sixers went 19-64 last season, landed Joel Embiid — another injured big, this time with superstar potential — and a fully rested Noel has been a summer league force. Nerlens played three games in Orlando and two games in Vegas, averaging 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game, and generally looked like a ready-made defensive destroyer. His offensive game can sometimes resemble the flailings of one of those used-car-lot air dancers, but he’s somehow made it work, all while displaying a surprising passing vision from the post. Memo from Sam Hinkie to Nerlens Noel: Stop being so good right now.