The charcoal briquets from yesterday's grilling action haven't even cooled off yet, and we're already knee deep in NBA Summer League action.
Let's not kid ourselves, folks: By and large, summer league basketball is painful to watch (though not as bad as preseason football). The pain will be a little less this year, however, as newly-minted Sixer Jahlil Okafor will don his No. 8 PHILA jersey for the first time tomorrow (and hopefully not drop it to the floor immediately after the game is over).
Okafor and the rest of his 76ers' teammates are set to play just three games in the Rocky Mountain Revue before the team's focus shifts to the much more prestigious Vegas Summer League. Most of the players making the trip to Salt Lake City have little chance of making the Sixers' final roster, but there's always a chance that a few of them show enough to get invited to training camp this fall.
Furkan Aldemir, 6'10", Forward/Center: Aldemir - or Mr. Rebound, according to his Basketball Reference page - isn't necessarily a lock to make the final 15, despite the $2.8 million in guaranteed money that he's due this season. Mr. Rebound played in just 41 games last year (scoring a mere 93 points - all of which you can see here), and with a suddenly-crowded Sixers' frontcourt, minutes for Aldemir will be hard to come by this season. If the 76ers need to clear a roster spot at some point, don't be surprised to see Aldemir dealt this offseason to a team looking for depth up front (Hello, Doc Rivers).
Deonte Burton, 6'1", Guard: After a stellar career for the Nevada Wolfpack (All-American honors in 2012, 2,102 career points), Burton didn't hear his name called during the 2014 NBA Draft. Despite a subpar showing in last year's summer league for the Washington Wizards (1.8 PPG, 1.0 APG, 15.8 FG%), Burton landed a spot on the Sacramento Kings' training camp roster, and later signed a deal with ratiopharm Ulm in Germany's Bundesliga (2.6 PPG, 0.5 APG, 0.6 RPG, 35.1 FG%, 22.2 3PT% in 32 games).
Jerami Grant, 6'8", Forward: All eyes will be on Jahlil Okafor this week in Utah, but the development of Jerami Grant is one of the key storylines for the Sixers over the next few months. If nothing else, Grant should grow into a solid defender over time, and if he ever starts knocking down his jumper consistently, he'll be a mighty fine rotation player for years to come. With a full season under his belt and his spot on the Sixers' roster (fairly) secure, I would expect Grant to have a decent showing in Utah this week.
Corey Hawkins, 6'3", Guard: Like father, like son? We can only hope: Corey Hawkins is the son of former Sixers' marksman Hersey Hawkins. It appears as if the former has inherited at least some of the talent of the latter: Corey shot an NCAA-best 48.8 percent from beyond the arc last season for UC-Davis. His size is the biggest knock against him, but to his credit, he was able to rebound at a fairly decent clip for someone who's only 6'3" (4.9 RPG last season). No one is expecting the second coming of Stephen Curry, but is Seth Curry out of the question?
Richaun Holmes, 6'8", Forward: On draft night, we wrote about how Holmes is a high-energy big who excels at rebounding, blocking shots and putbacks despite the fact that he's undersized for the 4 spot. Even more promising is the fact that he's a willing and able defender whose offensive game developed quite a bit during his three years at Bowling Green. More often than not, he won't get the chance to take his warmups off all that much, but Holmes figures to be a solid end-of-the-bench guy for the Sixers this season.
Chavaughn Lewis, 6'5", Guard: Lewis led the MAAC in scoring (20.6 PPG) and steals (2.3 SPG) last season, and was a pretty decent defender as well (1.6 Defensive Win Shares). The thing with Lewis is that he was a high-volume scorer (his usage rate was 36.8 in 2014-15) for a team (Marist) that didn't really face much in the way of NBA-level talent. For what it's worth, Lewis did make the All-Tournament Team at this year's Portsmouth Invitational (as did Richaun Holmes), averaging 16.7 PPG on 54.8 percent shooting.
Derrick Marks, 6'3", Guard: After shooting just 28.8 percent from deep during his junior season, Marks knocked down 43.6 percent of this three-point attempts last season, leading Boise State to a 25-9 mark and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately for Marks, being a 6'3" scoring guard is probably a detriment to his chances at making an NBA roster, but if he can prove his worth as a distributor, he may be able to turn some heads in summer league.
T.J. McConnell, 6'3", Guard: T.J. McConnell is arguably the best point guard on the Sixers' Rocky Mountain Revue roster. The former Arizona standout averaged 10.4 points and 6.3 assists last season for the Wildcats, and he's a natural playmaker - something that the Sixers desperately need. McConnell signed a partially guaranteed deal, so his chances of sticking around are better than most, and there's a good chance that he'll still be on the roster when training camp rolls around in October.
Jordan McRae, 6'5", Guard: Jordan McRae was a late addition to the Sixers' summer league roster, but he made an instant impression after shattering a backboard on Friday morning. Over the past 15 months, McRae also did a fine job of shattering some people's expectations of his play: The former Tennessee star followed up a stellar season with Melbourne United (19.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.0 SPG) with a strong 13-game run with the Delaware 87ers (18.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.6 SPG). Per Max Rappaport, McRae has been running a little point over the past few days, and the Sixers will use both Utah and Vegas to evaluate McRae's ability/potential as a combo guard.
Jahlil Okafor, 6'11", Center: You may have heard of this guy before. Okafor played at Duke last year, won a national championship, was drafted No. 3 overall less than two short weeks ago, and has hands the size of a Monstar. Over the next few days, Okafor will be squaring off against guys named Cady Lalanne, Colton Iverson (no relation to Allen) and Grant Jerrett. He should do well.
Jordan Railey, 7'0", Center: Less than a month after the Sixers worked him out prior to the draft, the Sixers invited Railey to join their Utah Summer League roster. Railey is already 23 years old, and he didn't exactly set the world on fire as a senior with Washington St. (6.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.0 BPG), but he's a big body and 7-footers are always in demand.
Sam Thompson, 6'7", Forward: Sam Thompson's NBA prospects are probably slim (at the moment), but he should be a ball to watch this week in Utah. When it comes to pure dunking ability, Thompson has few peers. That said, the rest of his offensive game is rather pedestrian. So, despite being the second-best scorer on an Ohio State team that won 24 games last year (behind some guy named D'Angelo Russell), Thompson has his work cut out for him this summer.
Update: Apparently, Sam Thompson has left the Sixers and will be playing with the Minnesota Timberwolves this summer. (h/t @BMoonan)
J.P. Tokoto, 6'6", Guard/Forward: We wrote about Tokoto at length on draft night, and the short version goes something like this: He's an athletic swingman who is a marginal shooter at best (and even that's being polite). If I had to guess, I'd say that Tokoto will spend a lot of time in Delaware this season, and that's probably the best thing for his development in the long run.