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Miles displays shooting touch for Sixers

The former St. Joseph's power forward averages 14.0 points on 73.3 percent shooting through two summer league outings.

Forward Isaiah Miles has been a standout in summer-league play.
Forward Isaiah Miles has been a standout in summer-league play.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI

LAS VEGAS – One could argue that Isaiah Miles has been the most impressive member — not named Markelle Fultz — of the 76ers summer-league team.

The former St. Joseph's power forward averaged 14.0 points on 73.3 percent shooting in two Utah Jazz Summer League performances. The reserve also shot 75 percent on three-pointers and averaged seven rebounds entering Saturday night's NBA Summer League opener against the Golden State Warriors at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Fultz, the first overall pick in the June 22 NBA draft, is the team's headliner and best player. But Miles has established himself as the go-to guy on the second unit.

"If a guy is making shots, you are going to fall in love with him," said Sixers assistant Lloyd Pierce, who's coaching the team here at UNLV.  "His ability to come in and just stretch the floor, obviously, that's a major area of importance for us."

The Sixers are looking for players that can come in and give them three-point opportunities in the future. So the fact that the reserve power forward is doing that has impressed the Sixers.

Miles and Atlanta Hawks forward DeAndre' Bembry were a talented tandem at St. Joe's during the 2015-16 season.

But after going undrafted in 2016, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Miles had a summer-league stint with the Dallas Mavericks before playing for JDA Dijon Basket in France. Last month, he signed a contract with Usak Sportlif in Turkey.

Miles can get out of his contract for a certain amount of money if he signs with an NBA team.  That's why he's thankful for the opportunity to play for the Sixers this summer. It gives him the opportunity to not only impress the team, but all NBA teams.

Miles' season overseas helped to prepare him for his second year of summer-league ball.

"I was one of the youngest players in the whole league," he said. "So it kind of motivated me just to play over here [in the NBA]."

While viewing NBA games on TV in France, Miles got motivation from watching players he played against in college getting minutes.

"That kind of created that chip on my shoulder," he said.

Luwawu-Cabarrot’s journey

There's a difference in Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot from last summer.  The swingman, who was the 24th pick in 2016, looks more confident and comfortable in his second summer-league stint.

A lot of it has to do with the French player's adjustment to life in America and the NBA.

"Last year was learning from Day 1," Pierce said of Luwawu-Cabarrot. "There was a language barrier. There was a term barrier just from learning NBA terms."

Nowadays, he isn't thinking as much about what is being said. He's just out there playing.

This season, the Sixers will use him as a rotation player that comes in to defend point guards and shooting guards.

That's why Pierce is critiquing Luwawu-Cabarrot's defensive efforts in the summer league. He's focused more on voicing his opinion after bad plays than positive ones.

"That's good, because I always push myself to be better every day and to be focused all the time," Luwawu-Cabarrot said. "I can't just have a good game and allow myself to just relax."

As far as a position, the 6-6, 200-pounder said it doesn't matter where he plays this season.  He finished last season as the starting shooting guard. However, he also saw some action at small forward.  Pierce said that those positions are interchangeable. So there's a good chance that Luwawu-Cabarrot will play both next season.

He was the starting shooting guard against the Warriors on Saturday.