Former Indiana Hoosiers standout James Blackmon has mind set on making Sixers' roster

LAS VEGAS – The journey from undrafted rookie to making the 76ers' roster will be difficult this season – if not impossible.

Just don't tell that to guard James Blackmon.

"My mind-set is to make the roster," said the former Indiana standout, who's anticipating a training camp invite.

Blackmon's final in-game, summer-league opportunity to prove he deserves the invite came in Friday's 99-82 loss to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Summer League consolation game.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder finished with six points on 2-for-8 shooting in his first start here in Sin City. Blackmon missed all three of his three-pointers and finished with four rebounds and one steal in 18 minutes, 33 seconds of action.

Furkan Korkmaz led the Sixers with team highs of 22 points and eight rebounds. He made 4 of 9 three-pointers. Reserves Melo Trimble (16) and Brandon Austin (10) were the Sixers' other double-digit scorers.

Former Villanova standout Ryan Arcidiacono had 16 points for the Bulls (2-3).

Blackmon had averaged 9.5 points, 1.5 steals while shooting 33 percent on three-pointers in his two appearances heading into Friday. That came after Blackmon averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 28.5 percent on threes in two games in the Utah Jazz Summer League.

The Indiana native didn't show the shooting depth he was known for as a Hoosier. Blackmon shot 45.2 percent from three-point range during this three-year college career..

However, he's confident that his long-range shooting will come back around. Actually, Blackmon's trademark shooting skill and ability to both guard position are why he chose the Sixers (1-4) over other offers to play summer-league ball with.

"Every time I get a chance to play, I just go and do what I do,"  he said of what's need to do make the roster. "Show my hard work and my work ethic and just be myself around the guy."

While Blackmon's optimistic, he'll be hard pressed to make the Sixers roster.

The team already has nine guards/wings in Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, J.J. Redick, Jerryd Bayless,  Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell, Nik Stauskas,  Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Korkmaz.

A more realistic goal for Blackmon is making the Sixers' 20-man training camp roster. Blackmon could then choose to sign with the Delaware 87ers, the Sixers' G-League team, assuming he gets cut. That would enable him to remain in the team's pipeline.

Regardless of what happens, Blackmon is honored to at least be considered for the opportunity.

"Every day, I'm just working hard towards it," he said, "and going out there and showing them what I can do."

In other news, Korkmaz will play for Turkey's U-20 team in the U-20 European Championship after all.

The rookie will board an 11-hour flight to Germany on Saturday. From there, he'll take a four-hour flight to Greece to joining his Turkish teammates. The tournament, which begins Saturday, runs through July 23.

After that, Korkmaz will play for the Turkish senior team in EuroBasketCQ 2017 from Aug. 31 to Sept. 17, if he's selected.

While the Sixers always supported his playing in EuroBasket, the team originally didn't grant their consent for his participation in the U-20 tourney once he signed his NBA contract on July 4.

The Sixers thought it was better for his development to be with the team in the Utah Jazz league from July 5 and 6 and here at the NBA summer league.

The thinking changed since their final summer-league game was Friday as opposed to advancing all the way to Monday's championship.

Korkmaz averaged a team-leading 12.8 points in the NBA league. He's shooting 46.5 percent from the field and just 29.2 percent on three-pointers.

He'll be the third Sixer to participate in EuroBasket if he makes the Turkish senior team. Dario Saric will play for his native Croatia, while Luwawu-Cabarrot will play for his native France.

This game was a "Who's Who" of Sixers not competing. Fultz, who competed in the shootaround, missed his fourth consecutive games with a sprained left ankle. Luwawu-Cabarrot, Alex Poythress and Larry Drew II also had the night off.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, the summer league coach, sat out Friday's game. He was replaced by Connor Johnson, the team's video coordinator.