CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Philadelphia 76ers are sitting at 23-50 with nine games left in what has been a season that fell way short of championship expectations. The Sixers have dealt with a slew of injuries and have had to rely on a lot of unproven players in the 2024-25 season.
On the flip side, the young players that are getting this opportunity to get NBA reps on a two-way or a 10-day deal should take advantage of the reps they are getting. For example, guys like Marcus Bagley and Phillip Wheeler were able to make their NBA debuts recently for the Sixers while somebody like Jalen Hood-Schifino is able to get a legitimate chance to play.
"I think it's huge for them and it's something that we talk about quite a bit," coach Nick Nurse said at practice on Friday. "We talked about it during the first time out the other night (against the Washington Wizards). You know what I mean? Like, sometimes you got to remind them, like, Yeah, I know we're a little groggy from coming off the road or whatever, it's not a ton of these left."
The message from Nurse to these guys is simple. There are only nine games left in the season and they should use these games and minutes to show off what they can bring to the table. This is their chance to audition for the future whether it's with the Sixers or somebody else in the NBA.
"This is a tremendous showcase for you, for us, for the other teams in the league, or whatever," Nurse added. "For you personally to work on your own lot in life. We do discuss it a lot. It is important. Not only are they getting minutes, they're getting opportunities. They're getting six, eight, 10, 12 shots on offense. So again, I keep stressing that they need to take advantage of it. Every minute of it."
The Sixers will continue to see what these young players have in these final nine games of the season.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Nick Nurse shares a message for Sixers' two-way, 10-day players
