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Finding His Range

LAS VEGAS – The 2025 Summer Sixers have played two games in Las Vegas, but No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe (thumb sprain) has still yet to suit up since his stellar professional debut in Salt Lake City last week.

In their first game at the Thomas & Mack Center, the Sixers suffered an embarrassing 41-point blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs. On Saturday they appeared to be on pace for a similar outcome but staged a valiant comeback effort against the Charlotte Hornets that fell just short at the buzzer.

While there is a chance Edgecombe does suit up before Summer League wraps up – Tuesday's game against the Washington Wizards might be in play – a lengthy stay in Las Vegas has already produced many findings about his teammates.

From other players set to be on the Sixers' 2025-26 roster, to ones vying for any sort of NBA opportunities, a batch of observations after the first four days in Las Vegas in this week's 5 Sixers thoughts:

Johni Broome finding his range

In five games between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas so far, the Sixers' No. 35 overall pick in last month's draft has shot 8-for-19 from beyond the arc. Broome was a poor three-point shooter in college, but his willingness to fire away when open has given some reason to believe he can make considerable strides on that front. Broome developing into a consistent long-range shooter would massively improve his chances of turning into the sort of multi-positional rotation player the Sixers are hoping he becomes.

Many of Broome's threes in Summer League have been open. Even though a decent chunk of his minutes have come at power forward, teams are allowing him to take open shots from the perimeter. Broome's release is certainly slower than ideal, but so far he is making defenses pay for ignoring him. That is a major pat of the battle:

"I have a lot of room to improve my jumpshot," Broome told PhillyVoice on Tuesday. "But I think by me putting in the time and putting up the shots that it will improve."

MORE: Johni Broome scouting report

Judah Mintz drawing fouls at will

When Mintz was projected to be a second-round pick out of Syracuse last year, the main selling point was his self-creation ability on offense. Mintz knows how to engineer offense on his own, even if his playmaking chops remain a work in progress. But Mintz went undrafted and signed with the Sixers on an Exhibit 10 deal. He impressed in Summer League last year, went to the Delaware Blue Coats and thrived against G League competition. But Mintz has yet to earn an NBA opportunity.

With Edgecombe sidelined, Mintz has become the Summer Sixers' clear top option on the offensive end. He scored the go-ahead and dagger baskets to complete their lone win this month and has largely been the only steady source of offensive life for a scoring-starved team.

Mintz's second consecutive strong summer is powered by his foul-drawing ability, clearly an NBA-caliber skill right now. Mintz has attempted 49 free throws in five games for the Summer Sixers, including a 13-for-15 performance on Saturday. Mintz knows how to get two feet in the paint, and just as importantly has mastered the art of initiating the sort of contact that incites whistles.

"Just being relentless when it comes to getting to the basket, getting downhill," Mintz said. "I think it's pretty hard to play defense and not foul when you consistently get downhill. Just trying to put pressure on the defense."

Justin Edwards laboring

Some players who post strong rookie seasons come to Summer League, dominate for a game or two and then sit out for the duration. It was never all that realistic to expect such an outcome for Edwards, who generally impacts winning by making instinctual plays and avoiding mistakes. He is not a bad athlete, but even at this level he is not a good enough athlete to completely overwhelm the competition.

With that being said, Edwards has not looked quite like himself. He is just not moving all that well. Edwards finally found something in the second half of Saturday's game, and the relief he experienced was palpable after throwing down this and-one jam:

Summer League performances should almost never impact a player's outlook, and Edwards is no exception. He remains a valuable young player with a chance to be an impactful two-way rotation wing for the Sixers as soon as next season. One of the bright spots of a miserable 2024-25 campaign for the organization was Edwards having the runway to prove he is a no-doubt-about-it keeper.

MORE: Edwards guarded NBA's best as a rookie, 'not backing down at all'

Izan Almansa turning heads in limited minutes

Almansa was one of the Sixers' first undrafted free agent signings this year, quickly inked to an Exhibit 10 contract. He should be headed for Delaware in the fall. Almansa has had an interesting career path up to this point, including a season with the Perth Wildcats of the NBL.

One of the higher-ranked undrafted free agents of his class, Almansa possesses some of the key traits the Sixers often look for. He is young and extremely athletic, with some significant pedigree in his teenage years.

However, Almansa has not played a ton for the Summer Sixers, logging more than 10 minutes in only two games. Summer Sixers head coach T.J. DiLeo still raved about Almansa on Saturday.

"Unbelievable energy," DiLeo said. "I look at him and every time I'm like, 'We've got to find ways to get him more minutes,' just because of his energy, just how hard he plays. Great switchable defender, he runs the floor and he crashes. And those are some little things we're trying to do... He's a smart defender. He can switch one through five, and I think that's pretty valuable just as a professional basketball player in general."

Dominick Barlow looking overqualified

Before they were teammates with the Summer Sixers, Almansa and Barlow played together at Overtime Elite, Barlow said after signing a two-way deal with the Sixers.

Barlow looked out of sorts a bit on Thursday – understandable given how little familiarity he had with his other teammates and the team's schematics. But with some more comfort on Saturday he was excellent, looking the part of the aforementioned players who come to Summer League and immediately crush. Barlow was all over the rim on both ends of the floor.

A New Jersey native, Barlow did not need to play in Las Vegas, but said he asked the organization if they would be alright with him joining them to get more work in. There was no objection, and after one flight and one shootaround Barlow found himself in DiLeo's starting five. After Saturday's game, he drew an enthusiastic review from DiLeo.

"The thing I said to him first of all was his leadership is unbelievable. He had a great game, but just his leadership these last two days, you can see he's got a little bit of NBA vet in him," DiLeo said. "Even though he hasn't been in the league that long, his leadership has been great. That's first and foremost... I was really proud of him."