The Philadelphia 76ers lost 26 straight games last year and wound up with the league’s second-worst record. With their two lottery picks, they acquired former Kansas Jayhawks’ center Joel Embiid and Croatian forward Dario Šarić. Embiid could miss the entire season while Šarić won’t play in the NBA until 2015 at the earliest.
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However, the players are already trying to become a tight unit – Embiid, along with the 76ers’ two first round picks in 2013, big man Nerlenas Noel, who missed the entire season while rehabbing from a torn ACL, and point guard Michael Carter-Williams, the 2013-2014 Rookie of the Year, traveled to Spain to watch Šarić play in the FIBA World Cup.
“We came out here to support Dario. He’s a great player. It’s my first time seeing him and I’m very impressed and excited about the future and having him be a part of what we’re building in Philadelphia,” said Noel via FIBA.com.
76ers’ coach Brett Brown also made the trip and is excited his potential future stars are there too.
“It’s a great effort that these three players have made to travel across the ocean to see a fellow teammate and show him support,” said Brown, who has international experience himself at three Olympics and two FIBA World Championships as assistant or head coach of Australia.
Carter-Williams averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 40.5% from the field, 26.4% from beyond the arc and 70.3% from the charity stripe. Noel made his debut during the summer and looked very good. In Noel’s lone year at Kentucky, he averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.4 blocks, 2.1 steals and 1.6 assists per game. He shot 59.0% from the field and 52.9% from the free throw line. Embiid was ranked second among all prospects by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (behind former Kansas teammate, forward Andrew Wiggins). Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.4 assists and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 62.6% from the field, 20.0% from beyond the arc and 68.5% from the free throw line. Šarić averaged 16.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 49.7% from the field, 34.5% from beyond the arc and 68.1% from the free throw line
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