Player grades: Summer Sixers end Salt Lake City with win over Grizzlies
Once again playing without No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe who remains day-to-day with a left thumb contusion, as well as Adem Bona who was resting, the summer Sixers buckled down defensively and found a rhythm on offense to walk away with a 91-90 win over the Grizzlies. Justin Edwards was able to put together a solid night with 15 points and two steals.
Judah Mintz led the way for Philadelphia with 26 points, three assists, and three steals, rookie Johni Broome had eight points, 12 rebounds, five of them on the offensive end, and two blocks, while Hunter Sallis added 11 off the bench. Jalen Slawson had seven points and Jalen Hood-Schifino had seven and seven assists.
Here are the player grades following a summer league win:
Justin Edwards: B-plus
The Sixers have been waiting for Edwards to find his rhythm on the offensive end. He was able to get himself some looks off the dribble and get into the paint which created opportunities for him. He was also efficient with his 3-pointers which was an issue in the first two games. Something that has been a problem thus far in the summer league—which has hampered Edwards a bit—is a lack of spacing and the lack of a sure ball-handler for this Sixers roster.
Johni Broome: B-plus
The rookie big man just played some winning basketball in this one. He was very good defensively as he was in the right spots all night long. He was constantly in the right spots to deter shots and made the right rotations on the drivers of the Grizzlies. Offensively, he was a bit slow to read the double teams, but when he was able to find a crease, he took advantage of it. He has a soft touch around the basket and is an underrated passer. He's also a relentless rebounder which is a big help for a team like the Sixers that can struggle on the glass at times.
Hunter Sallis: B
After a quiet summer league debut, Sallis had some big highlights in this one. He drove the lane and had a poster slam, knocked down a tough 3, and then ran the floor for a layup. He flashed some poise on the offensive end, and he has some NBA-level athleticism that should earn him a look at some point in the 2025-26 season.
Judah Mintz: A
One thing's for sure about Mintz: he can put the ball in the basket. He has an aggressive nature and he did a good job of getting into the paint in this one and being able to get the scoreboard moving and was able to get to the line a lot in this one. He has taken full advantage of the opportunity in front of him with Edgecombe out and one has to wonder if he will get a look from an NBA team—even if it isn't the Sixers. He made some huge plays down the stretch for the Sixers to close this one out.
Jalen Hood-Schifino: B
A problem for Hood-Schifino thus far in the summer league has been handling pressure from opponents. He did a much better job of that in this one as the Sixers were able to find some type of rhythm on the offensive end. He was good with his passing and took care of the ball.
Jalen Slawson: C-plus
An aggressive player, Slawson was able to get a look as a starter in this one and he had a rim-rattling slam in the early going. The big man out of Furman made some hustle plays on the defensive end of the floor and helped Philadelphia get out in transition.
Izan Almanza
There is a lot to like about Almanza. With the Sixers on an Exhibit 10 deal, he has a lot of size and skill which allows him to make plays from the wing with ease. He has a smooth game and did some good things off the bench for Philadelphia in this one.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Lakers jersey history No. 1 — Jordan Farmar
Through the 2024-25 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a total of 506 players suit up for them, going back to their days in Minneapolis. Some were forgettable, some were serviceable, some were good and a select few were flat-out legendary. As the Lakers approach their 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years. This article takes a look at a key reserve guard many Lakers fans will likely remember fondly — Jordan Farmar. Farmar is a local product who grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills. He spent two seasons at the University of California, Los Angeles, and he was named to the All-Pac-10 first team while helping the Bruins reach the men's NCAA championship game during the 2005-06 season. The Lakers took him late in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft. At the time, they were badly in need of depth as they retooled around Kobe Bryant, and while Farmar struggled as a rookie, he started to make an impact in his second season. That year, he averaged 9.1 points and 2.7 assists in 20.6 minutes a game while shooting 46.1% from the field and 37.1% from 3-point range. The Lakers, buoyed by the acquisition of Hall of Fame big man Pau Gasol, reached the 2008 NBA Finals, only to lose in six games to their archrivals, the Boston Celtics. But Farmar had established himself as a key member of a bench unit that was starting to look impressive. Over the next two seasons, the 6-foot-2 point guard played a significant role in L.A. winning back-to-back world championships, including one over the Celtics. He spent the next two seasons with the New Jersey Nets and had brief stints with Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2011 NBA lockout and Anadolu Efes in the Turkish League during the 2012-13 season before returning to the Lakers for the 2013-14 campaign. After subsequent stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings, Farmar's NBA career ended. He finished with career averages of 7.7 points and 2.9 assists in 19.5 minutes per game.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Sixers' Tyrese Maxey works out with Lakers superstar LeBron James
Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey is always looking to take the next step to become a better player in this league in an effort to win a title. The 5-year guard has already been named an All-Star, but has yet to get past Round 2 in the playoffs as he looks to lead the Sixers deep into the playoffs. Maxey is a maniacal worker who always uses the offseason to get 1% better and take another step in his career. He has spent this 2025 offseason working out with Memphis Grizzlies guard, and 2-time NBA champ, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and he is now working out with a legend, and somebody he works out with regularly, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. Trainer Chris Johnson posted a photo on his Instagram of James and Maxey after finishing up a workout. This isn't much of a surprise to see James and Maxey working out as they have done so in the past and do so often. It just shows how badly Maxey wants to take that next step in his career as he prepares for his sixth season.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Can Quentin Grimes and the Sixers find a deal that works for both?
Every dollar matters for the Philadelphia 76ers, a 24-win team caught in a financial crunch. But every dollar matters for the Sixers' most important current free agent, too. Can they and Quentin Grimes meet in the middle? Grimes, a two-way shooting guard who balled out last season for the tanking 76ers after arriving in a February trade, is one of four restricted free agents who remain on the market. The Athletic recently polled 16 people in NBA front offices (including no one from Philly's), asking them what they would deem a 'fair' contract for each member of the four: Grimes, the Golden State Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga, the Chicago Bulls' Josh Giddey and the Brooklyn Nets' Cam Thomas. Advertisement Results for Kuminga and Giddey have already published. Now, it is on to Grimes, a 25-year-old who averaged an efficient 21.9 points in 28 games with the 76ers last season after a midseason trade. Most people polled for the story considered Grimes within shouting range of the midlevel exception, which is worth $14.1 million in starting salary. Twelve of the 16 proposed average annual salaries between $12 million and $16.7 million. One front-office staffer who is especially high on Grimes suggested a four-year, $75 million deal, the most total money and the highest average annual value ($18.8 million) anyone in the poll mentioned. On the other side of the spectrum was an executive who considered Grimes worth just $30 million over three years, $10 million in average annual value, the lowest number in the poll. The executive said he couldn't properly contextualize Grimes' scoring outburst at the end of last season, when the injured 76ers were losing intentionally in the hopes of keeping their first-round pick, because he 'played on a bad team.' Others who suggested salaries lower than the midlevel exception mentioned market conditions as to why Grimes, a strong on-ball defender and 3-point sniper even at his worst, may not receive a salary commensurate with his end-of-season numbers. 'The way the cap (environment) is now, why would you spend $20 million on Quentin Grimes when you can get (Bucks guard) Gary Trent (Jr.) for a minimum?' said one executive, who proposed a three-year, $40 million contract for Grimes. 'We shouldn't just sign young players because they're young. … You've got to believe Grimes is gonna develop into your starting backcourt with (Tyrese) Maxey.' The 76ers are loaded with young guards. There's Maxey, already an All-Star at age 24. There's 21-year-old Jared McCain, the rookie of the year favorite until he suffered a season-ending injury in 2024-25. Coming in this season is the No. 3 selection in this past June's NBA Draft, V.J. Edgecombe. Advertisement If the Sixers consider Grimes a starter, they can pay him like one. If they worry he could lag behind those three, then they would be more hesitant to hand him a briefcase of cash. One person in the poll suggested a two-year deal (for $24 million). Eleven people proposed three-year deals. The total money for those were $30 million, $36 million, $39 million, $40 million, $42 million, $45 million (two), $45.7 million (which is the exact worth of the midlevel exception), $48 million (two) and $50 million. Four people mentioned four-year contracts: One for $60 million, one for $64 million, one for $72 million and one for $75 million. The restricted free agency experience, rarely a fun one, is even damper than usual this summer. The little cap space that was once out there has evaporated. Meanwhile, leverage isn't easy to find for players in Grimes', Kuminga's, Giddey's and Thomas' situations. Since they are restricted free agents, their 2024-25 teams have right of first refusal, meaning if Grimes, for example, signed an offer sheet with another franchise, the Sixers could match it to bring him back for the same price. It makes rival organizations hesitant to tie up cap space with restricted free agents. Meanwhile, sign-and-trades are difficult because of a niche rule in the collective bargaining agreement called base year compensation, which makes the math in matching salaries far more complex than usual. Yet, whether he's a 20-point scorer or not, Grimes can play. By his second season, he was a starter on a New York Knicks team that won a playoff series. He drained 3-pointers and consistently guarded the opposition's best perimeter player. He's bounced around since — to the Detroit Pistons and then Dallas Mavericks and eventually to the Sixers, who let him cook after most of their top performers left the court late in the season. Advertisement As Grimes' usage climbed in Philadelphia, his above-average efficiency maintained, not normally the case when a young player ratchets up his responsibilities. He ran more pick-and-rolls, attacked the basket and controlled his squad's offense more than ever while in Philly. 'There are not many Swiss Army knife wings out there that score it as efficiently, defend, pass or rebound like he does,' said the front-office staffer who suggested the four-year, $75 million contract. 'He might not be elite at any one thing, but (he's) very good at a lot of them.' But even if the 76ers agree with that assessment, they have a problem. The cheapest salary a four-year, $75 million contract could start at is $16.7 million. As of now, Philadelphia is approximately $3 million below the luxury-tax threshold. Any Grimes contract, including if he picked up his qualifying offer of $8.7 million (which would send him back to Philly on a one-year deal and allow him to enter unrestricted free agency a year from now), would drive them past it. But this contract would blast them into the first apron and only approximately $5 million short of the second apron, which the team is hoping to avoid. The Sixers may overflow with talent but they also have the largest delta between their possibilities for the upcoming season. In a best-case scenario, a former MVP in Joel Embiid looks like himself again; a renaissance season from nine-time All-Star Paul George emerges; and a young stud in Maxey continues to improve. There is additional talent to fill in the gaps. In a worst-case one, Embiid and George, who just underwent another surgery, can't stay on the floor and the team combusts, just as it did in 2024-25, when expectations were high and results were the league's most disappointing. The Sixers finished 24-58. It will be difficult to justify such an expensive roster if they falter again this season. Advertisement For that reason, people polled about Grimes' contract concentrated on keeping him tradable. If the Sixers need to break it down, if they need to flip him for a center because Embiid misses time, maintaining him either on a short-term contract or on one with a salary below the midlevel exception could be an emphasis. 'I like Quentin Grimes. He's a very good player. I would present him with two options: You can have a three-year, $48 million deal or a four-year, $60 million,' one executive said. A three-year contract of that value would crest barely above this season's MLE, which can be used as a trade exception (meaning the Sixers could hypothetically trade Grimes into someone else's midlevel exception without having to match salaries). His 2026-27 salary would clear that season's MLE, too. But the four-year, $60 million deal could keep both seasons under it. 'You say to him, 'Do you want money or do you want longevity?'' the executive said. 'And if he says both, you say, 'We can't offer both.'' Starting-caliber players tend to make more than this. In 2025-26, 22 point guards, 28 shooting guards, 21 small forwards, 25 power forwards and 22 centers will earn more than the MLE. One participant in the poll suggested a salary barely above the midlevel, just to signal that Grimes is worth it. 'It's the same ballpark as what (Caris) LeVert and Nickeil Alexander-Walker got in average annual value,' he said. So now, like the rest of his restricted counterparts, Grimes waits, hoping to make the money his performance dictates he deserves and hoping to avoid the contract his lack of leverage could plop in front of him.
