Typically, Sixers mailbags are saved for Wednesdays. But with plenty of stories previewing the Sixers' season and opening contest tomorrow, we are bumping the mailbag up by a day this week. Let's get into your questions:
From @DI4rnott: Will Jared McCain get extended minutes based off his preseason play or will they still ease him in?
It certainly seems like McCain did enough in training camp and preseason to at least position himself much more strongly in the race for rotation minutes than anyone expected him to. The rookie guard was the shining star of the team's training camp in The Bahamas and might have led the team in total preseason minutes had he not suffered a scary fall in the team's penultimate exhibition.
Interestingly, though, McCain's strong play and optimistic reviews from coaches and teammates are not the only recent developments which have improved his chances of entering Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's regular rotation. Nurse made the decision to go with veteran sharpshooter Eric Gordon as his starting shooting guard, likely pushing Caleb Martin and his energy to the second unit where Nurse believes it is much-needed.
Initially, it was difficult to envision McCain cracking the rotation because he and Gordon would be redundant sharing the floor in second unit lineups — having multiple excellent shooters is a plus, but McCain and Gordon both offer little on-ball juice and are not positive defenders. But if Gordon spends most of his time on the floor in starter-heavy lineups, it could create a clearer path for McCain to come off the bench.
Still, McCain may just miss the cut at the start of the season if Paul George is healthy and available. Beyond the Sixers' eight rotation locks — Tyrese Maxey, George, Embiid, Gordon, Kelly Oubre Jr., Martin, Andre Drummond and Kyle Lowry — there is likely only one spot up for grabs, and KJ Martin figures to be the strong front-runner. KJ Martin has generated a lot of trust from coaches and teammates and, from a positional perspective, is a better fit around those eight players than McCain.
In any case, McCain now projects to see the floor a lot sooner than he otherwise would have after his strong few weeks.
MORE: Sixers player preview: Jared McCain
From @DanScullin1: Of the players who did not sign rookie scale extensions, is anyone worth keeping an eye on as a trade deadline target?
Monday was the deadline for 2021 first-round picks — players entering their fourth NBA seasons — to ink contract extensions. Any player from that group who did not sign a longer-term deal will now become a restricted free agent in the offseason. The vast majority of noteworthy names from the bunch inked deals, with the most well-known players to bypass extensions being Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors and Josh Giddey of the Chicago Bulls.
As far as potential Sixers trade targets go, a name to keep an eye on might be Santi Aldama of the Memphis Grizzlies, the No. 30 overall pick in 2021 who has carved out a role for himself as a 6-foot-11 big who never hesitates as a three-point shooter. Aldama will be part of Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins' second unit to begin the season, though he started in 35 of his 61 games last season as a result of Memphis' injury-plagued year.
Aldama will make a hair below $4 million in 2024-25, so the Sixers could theoretically add him without using KJ Martin's salary that many project will be dangled in trade talks.
MORE: 2024-25 NBA awards picks
From @sixersallie: How do you think the two-way players looked during the preseason?
Jeff Dowtin Jr., Lester Quinones and Justin Edwards all had their moments over the last few weeks, with Dowtin standing out as the clear front-runner among the group should any be needed in an NBA game. Dowtin has been there and done that — Quinones has some NBA experience as well, though, while Edwards will probably spend much of his season with the Delaware Blue Coats.
Here is one quote on each of the team's three two-way players:
• Dowtin to PhillyVoice at Sixers training camp on the bond that the team's two-way players share:
"We all have a different perspective on things. We come from different backgrounds. I just think we can learn from one another, teach one another whatever we see fit and just learn from there and can just kind of bond off of that."
• Dowtin on what he has seen from Quinones:
"How great he is as a shooter… Just playing with a lot of confidence right now. There's a lot of confidence. He's knocking down shots when he's open. We're finding him in great spots, and that's an advantage for us. So, it's going pretty well."
• Edwards on what he learned during the preseason:
"There's a lot of stuff that I learned. Something like, you can't take breaks on defense because there's always another action, just like on offense… Everything is fast, so I've got to learn everything real quick. So that's just one of the things that I've got to learn… I learned a little bit from everybody, honestly… I've learned parts of the game from everybody."
MORE: Dowtin ready for 2024-25: 'He just does a lot of things really solid'
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