It may not feel like it, with restricted free agency far from wrapped up, but the NBA season is right around the corner. The preseason will kick off soon, with media day and training camp later this month. It’s time for a preview of the Sixers’ roster as they are (mostly) ready to start the season.
While the main roster is still awaiting a resolution with Quentin Grimes to be finalized, the Sixers have had all three of their two-way contracts sorted out since Summer League. The Sixers have gone a bit
older in filling those spots — all three players are currently at least 22 years old. Despite that, Philadelphia will hope to be less reliant on their new two-way guard than last season, when Jeff Dowtin Jr. literally ran out of available NBA games to play due to how thin the roster got.
The Sixers are currently using just one of those slots on a rookie in Hunter Sallis, an undrafted guard from Wake Forest. A four-year college player, Sallis is a 6-foot-5 guard with a 6’9.75” wingspan. He spent the first two years of his collegiate career at Gonzaga before transferring ahead of his junior year. After coming off the bench with the Bulldogs, he would start his final two seasons, where he averaged 18.1 points per game along with 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals. He shot 47.9% from the field in college, but his three-point splits are where things get interesting.
Sallis made 40.5% from deep in his first year at Wake Forest, but dropped down to 27.7% his senior year — despite being a high volume shooter as a starter, averaging 5.2 threes a game at Wake Forest. His junior year was the only time he made over 30% of his threes, let alone 40.
There were plenty of opportunities for Sallis to showcase himself with the Sixers in summer league, especially after VJ Edgecombe missed most of it with an injury. He didn’t exactly take advantage though. Over seven games he averaged 6.1 points per game on shooting splits of just 28%/12.5%/76.5%. He had a fair amount of ball-handling responsibilities but struggled to take care of it, averaging 1.9 turnovers to 1.7 assists.
It’s not atypical for a rookie guard to struggle in the unstructured environment that is summer league. It’s also not uncommon for the Sixers to use up one of their two-way spots on a player that’s viewed as a project. Terquavion Smith and Julian Champagnie come to mind. A 22-year-old with four years of college experience doesn’t exactly fit that bill though. While he had one excellent year on high volume, his track record as a shooter isn’t the most reassuring.
For once, he is entering a Sixers team that might be alright on spacing. If the team is revolving around the backcourt of Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, Edgecombe and presumably Grimes, being a shooter doesn’t necessarily have to be a prerequisite. Joel Embiid is still on this team though, and the spacing in the front court gets very shaky after Paul George.
Regardless of those bigger roster concerns, Sallis’ fate is almost certainly destined for the Delaware Blue Coats. Should he make it through training camp, the Sixers will definitely want to see if a more structured environment can bring out the scorer he was in college. Presumably, he’ll be given a lot of chances to initiate offense. Perhaps he won’t need to hit as many outside shots, but that could go either way.
The Sixers haven’t really had any success with their “project” two-ways in the Daryl Morey era. Smith for example, is already playing oversees. Champagnie did not see much professional success until he found his way to the San Antonio Spurs. Even Ricky Council IV, who was able to give some contributions for the Sixers in 2023-24, was waived by the team this offseason. Perhaps Sallis can buck that trend, but his first impression at the professional level was not the most encouraging.
