76ers Beat Suns, Deandre Ayton in 2018 Summer League; Furkan Korkmaz Drops 18
The Philadelphia 76ers earned their first win of the 2018 NBA Summer League as they defeated No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns, 88-86, in the first round of the summer-league tournament bracket in Las Vegas.
Ayton flirted with a double-double, scoring 10 points and collecting nine rebounds. He turned the ball over six times, however.
Some highlighted Phoenix's inability to feed the ball to Ayton inside:
That'll likely be a theme for the Suns throughout the 2018-19 season. Brandon Knight is their expected starting point guard, and he's more of a combo guard than a true floor general. Phoenix needs a proven playmaker to avoid leaving Ayton ignored for long stretches.
For the Sixers, Furkan Korkmaz continued a productive summer league. He had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists:
Beyond Korkmaz's scoring, The Athletic's Derek Bodner thought he did well to help facilitate the offense:
Philadelphia acquired Wilson Chandler and signed Nemanja Bjelica during the offseason, but it's largely the same team it was a year ago. It missed out on LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard remains a member of the San Antonio Spurs.
That could allow Korkmaz to assume a larger role in the team's rotation in his second season. At the very least, the 20-year-old is doing his best to impress head coach Brett Brown.
