Isaiah Miles deserves to make the Philadelphia 76ers

Former Saint Joseph’s baseball star Isaiah Miles is lighting up the NBA Summer League. He should make the Philadelphia 76ers roster, but he won’t.

Philadelphia college basketball standout Isaiah Miles, now on the Philadelphia 76ers‘ NBA Summer League team, is making a statement that he deserves to play in the NBA.

After going undrafted in 2016, the former Saint Joseph’s forward is outplaying the 76ers’ top prospects. In five games, the 6’7” shooting guard is averaging 10.4 points a game, second only to 2016 first round pick, Furkan Korkmaz, star of the Turkish National team. 

But Korkmaz is only shooting 38.3 percent from the field and has cooled off considerably since his 40-point debut. Miles has consistently played well and has a shooting percentage of 47.5 percent.

Miles is also averaging 6.0 rebounds a game, trailing only Australian star and 2017 second round pick Jonah Bolden (6.5 per game).  

The Sixers front office had high hopes for Korkmaz and Bolden before Summer League play started. Both are competing for a spot on the bench. Miles came out of nowhere and is being rewarded with playing time, but has little chance of making the team.

Still, the St. Joe’s star is turning heads with his play, especially in his first start against the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are considered one of the top teams in Summer League. When the two teams played, the Suns were the 3-seed, while the 76ers were the 30-seed. The Sixers won, but without Isiah Miles, the team would not have had a chance.

Miles scored 20 points, shooting 6-for-8 from behind the 3-point land.  But, as Jack Hyman from Liberty Ballers points out, it was Miles’ defense that really turned heads.  He shutdown the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the 7’1” Dragan Bender.  

Isiah Miles played in Europe the past two years.  Last year, he was a starting forward in Turkey for Usak. The season before he played in France, as the second leading scorer and leading rebounder for the team from Dijon.  He also shot 46 percent from 3-point range.

Europe is calling once again, Sportando is reporting that the Italian club Pallacanestro Reggiana is showing “strong interest” in the 24-year-old. 

But Isaiah Miles; dream is to play in his adopted home of Philadelphia. “That’s my dream to play there,” Miles told Philly.com. “I’ve been to college there for four years. I’m from Baltimore, so it’s an hour, 30 [minutes] away. I’m a big momma’s boy. So it would be great for her to come and see one of my games. It’s been two years since she’s seen me play in person.”

It seems unfair that because of draft position, contracts, scouting reports and the nebulous concept known as “potential,” Isaiah Miles won’t make the Sixers’ squad.

2017 first round picks Zhaire Smith from Texas Tech and Landry Shamet will undoubtedly make the team. After his 40-point Summer League performance, Furkan Korkmaz has a good shot, and the front office loves the “potential” of Bolden. Isaiah Miles outplayed them all.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

If he keeps playing the way he did this summer, one day Miles will play in the NBA, and then he can make the 76ers regret they allowed the St. Joe’s Hawk to fly away.