Throughout the first three games of the most anticipated preseason in living memory, there have been three overriding themes on display, at least to my eyes.
- VJ Edgecombe's growth as a ball handler and finisher.
- LeBron James' passing.
- Concerns on the defensive glass, made even worse by the Hukporti injury.
We'll shelve talk about LeBron James until next week, with the hope that we'll get another game to go on by the time that next week's newsletter hits your inboxes. But the very short version of that is: boy am I excited to finally have an elite passer back on this team, especially one who doesn't need to dribble the ball out of the entire shot clock to setup his playmaking. It should be fun.
Instead, we'll focus a bit on VJ's growth, what it means for the Sixers (both for this year and the long run), and what (limited) options the Sixers have to fill the backup center hole in the roster following the devastating Ariel Hukporti news.
- Adem Bona (left foot sprain) was a full participant in yesterday's practice.
- So was Anfernee Simons (hamstring).
- Neither, however, are available for tonight's preseason finale, but it seems like both are inching towards a return, hopefully for opening night in New York.
- For tonight's game, Nick Nurse told us yesterday that his hope is to play all of his starters into the third quarter, so we should get our most extended look at the team at (mostly) full strength that we've seen so far.
- I will be up in New York on opening night, so be sure to follow: Myself on Twitter | PHLY Sixers on Twitter | PHLY Sports on YouTube.
- In addition to clips and writing, I also post the full press conferences for all games/practices that I attend on the PHLY Sports YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe so you can see them.
- I will have a "10 free-floating thoughts" newsletter out before opening night, so be on the lookout for that.
