While the Sixers want to win at NBA Summer League, player development will be their primary focus

LAS VEGAS — The 76ers’ trip to the Entertainment Capital of the World is all about player development while trying to win games at the NBA Summer League.

“The goal is to definitely give guys opportunities,” said Sixers assistant Brian Adams, who’s coaching the summer league team. “That kind of goes from the guys we’ve had in camp, you have [Tyrese] Maxey, Isaiah [Joe], Paul [Reed], [Rayjon Tucker] Tuck. They’ve all been with us.”

The Sixers will open summer league play at 4 p.m. Monday against the Dallas Mavericks. They will have a talented roster looking to add more experience. Maxey, Reed and Joe were all rookies on this past season’s team. Tucker signed a two-way deal with the Sixers in January. They re-signed him to another two-way deal on Tuesday.

“So [this summer] really gives them an opportunity to get more time ... and find their niche,” Adams said, “give themselves an opportunity come training camp to kind of better themselves.”

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The Sixers are also trying to do the same for rookies Jaden Springer, Charles Bassey and Filip Petrušev while giving them a little taste of the NBA. Some of the remaining players on the summer league roster are guys the Sixers want to get an in-person look at prior to the season.

“Obviously, we set the goal to win games, because we don’t want to be noncompetitive,” Adams said. “But there’s bigger stuff in play ... as far as the development is probably the key piece.”

Maxey told the Inquirer Wednesday that he’s focused on being a better facilitator while in Vegas. Joe is known for knocking down three-pointers. The Sixers want him to continue knocking down shots while developing into a good perimeter defender.

The team is working on Paul’s versatility during summer league. He was the 2021 NBA G-League MVP while playing mostly the center position for the Delaware Blue Coats. The Sixers want him to play center and in the perimeter.

“He’s got to be a guy that can do it all,” Adams said. “So we are looking for that. He did a good job [Wednesday] figuring it out.”

Tucker is an aggressive, downhill attacker on offense. The Sixers’ goal is for the him to be a three-and-D player.

Meanwhile, Adams said Springer was impressive attacking and playing hard during Wednesday’s practice.

“We just got to get him to know our system, start understanding the NBA and go from there,” Adams said. “But everything was impressive.”