Summer league is over for Sixers' Joe and Petrušev

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Neither Isaiah Joe nor Filip Petrušev will participate in the Sixers’ final game of summer league Tuesday afternoon against the Jazz.

Joe sustained a mild left MCL sprain in the Sixers’ overtime loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday, a team official said, and he’ll be further evaluated in Philadelphia. The 22-year-old appeared to pick up the injury when he stepped on a Minnesota player on an attempted fourth-quarter drive.

Petrušev left Las Vegas, returning to Europe to prepare for the upcoming season.

The No. 49 pick in the 2020 draft, Joe played well in summer league, averaging 14.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists over four games. He shot 37.5 percent from three-point range on 10 tries per contest. Though the results were mixed, Joe handled the ball more than during his rookie season and had several nice moments as a pick-and-roll playmaker.

“That’s one thing that I really worked on a lot and have been working on a lot for the past few years,” he said last week via Zoom. “So getting into the game, the coaching staff and my teammates are really confident in me to be able to play make. Once they have that trust in me, I know that I can go out there and do my thing.”

Presumably, Joe will aim to be back at full health before the Sixers begin training camp in late September. 

As for Petrušev, he might not wear a Sixers uniform again for quite a while. The big man is expected to sign with Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Sportnado’s Emiliano Carchia reported. The Sixers intended to stash Petrušev overseas when they took him at No. 50 in this year’s draft. 

A prolific scorer for Mega Basket in the Adriatic League, Petrušev didn’t contribute much offensively in summer league, posting 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He was effective as a rim protector, though, demonstrating a solid sense for positional defense and blocking eight shots in total. 

Charles Bassey, who the Sixers selected three picks after Petrušev, has not played in Las Vegas. The Western Kentucky center has yet to sign an NBA contract and has been held out by his agent, The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey reported.

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