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Summer league standouts for the Sixers include Isaiah Joe, Michael Foster Jr.

The season of proving oneself has already begun for certain NBA players and prospects.

Sixers guard Isaiah Joe shooting the basketball against the Detroit Pistons on April 10 in Philadelphia.
Sixers guard Isaiah Joe shooting the basketball against the Detroit Pistons on April 10 in Philadelphia.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

SALT LAKE CITY — Isaiah Joe fits the profile of the 76ers’ prototypical reserve.

The third-year guard is an accomplished three-point shooter and a solid defender. However, Joe couldn’t stay in the Sixers’ rotation this past regular season. He followed that up by playing a total of 1 minute, 8 seconds in the final four games of the second-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat. Even that’s a bit misleading, considering those minutes came in mop-up duty in the series-ending Game 6.

The problem was Joe didn’t always flourish when called up.

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“That’s the thing, last year was consistency,” Joe said. “So that’s the thing I really want to build is consistency, especially for a contending team. They don’t have any time for inconsistent players. So they are really looking for consistency out of me just like they are looking for consistency out of [star players] Joel [Embiid] and James [Harden].

“It’s not going to change. So I can’t come in and slack. I got to be able to come in and excel.”

He’ll look to display some of that consistency here in the four-team Salt Lake City Summer League, which runs Tuesday through Thursday at Vivint Arena.

The Sixers open up against the Memphis Grizzlies at 7 p.m. Tuesday before facing the Utah Jazz ( 9 p.m. Wednesday) and Oklahoma City Thunder ( 6 p.m. Thursday).

“I want to be able to show that my game can transition into the NBA game,” Joe said of his summer league goals. “There are a lot of guys that can go out there and put up these crazy numbers [in summer league], but their game doesn’t particularly translate to the next level.

“So that’s my goal to say, ‘Hey I’m here to stay and I’m here do whatever the team needs me to do and I’m here to show them that I can be able to translate.’ ”

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He was one of the standouts at the summer-league team’s training camp at the University of Utah on Saturday, Sunday, and on the Fourth of July. Joe displayed solid long-range shooting and defense while standing out as a leader.

But the 2020 second-round pick, who’s scheduled to make a non-guaranteed $1.7 million next season, is expected to dominate these practices against mostly non-NBA-caliber players.

Joe knows the true test will come during the Sixers’ training camp in late September and during the 2022-23 season.

Last season, he averaged 3.6 points and 11.1 minutes while shooting 33.3% on three-pointers to go with 14 blocks and three steals in 55 games with one start.

However, Joe was a completely different shooter at home versus on the road.

The former Arkansas standout shot 38.6% (27 of 70) from three-point range in 29 appearances at the Wells Fargo Center. He made just 27.7% (18 of 65) of three-pointers in 26 road appearances.

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Joe, who turned 23 on Saturday, had been working out mainly this offseason in his hometown of Fort Smith, Ark. He’s added 10 pounds of muscle and now measures in at 6-foot-4 and 184 pounds.

“I’ve had everything I needed from my trainer on the court and my physical strength trainer off the court,” Joe said. “Physical therapists, masseuses, I’ve had everything I needed.”

He also traveled to his alma mater and got in a few runs with current Arkansas players. For Joe, it’s all about putting in work that will translate to becoming a more consistent player.

Foster displaying versatility

Michael Foster Jr. is making an impression on the Sixers summer-league team.

The 6-8, 250-pound post player went undrafted after playing this past season for the NBA G League Ignite. But shortly afterward, he agreed to a free-agent deal with the Sixers.

“We came in and I didn’t know much about Michael Foster,” said Sixers skills development coach Tyler Lashbrook, the head coach of the team’s SLC summer-league squad.“And I think he’s really been a presence those three days [of training camp]. One, physically, he’s a big center and skilled, more skilled than you would think. We had him doing some of the guard stuff because he was able to compete with those guys.

“And when you get that type of skill set and body playing at the five, I think it’s pretty interesting. So we all came out pretty impressed with it.”