Sixers

Sixers Now Have Enough Bigs to Try the Coveted All-Center Lineup

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 17th, 2023 · 11:08 AM EDT

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The Sixers already have four bigs on the roster, but added two more on Monday.

Couple of truncated press releases here:

PHILADELPHIA – JULY 17, 2023 – Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed Filip Petrušev. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

During the 2022-23 season, Petrušev played in 72 games (34 Euroleague, 33 Liga ABA, five tournament play) for Serbian club Crvena zvezda, averaging 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 57.3% from the field. Petrušev helped lead the team to its 23rd Basketball League of Serbia title, the most in league history. In Euroleague play, Petrušev earned Week 17 MVP honors. 

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PHILADELPHIA – JULY 17, 2023 – Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed Ąžuolas Tubelis to a two-way contract. 

Tubelis was a consensus 2022-23 Second Team All-American as a junior at the University of Arizona, averaging 19.8 points on 57.0% shooting and 9.1 rebounds in 35 regular-season games (34 starts). These numbers made Tubelis the seventh player in Pac-12 history, and first since the 2005-06 season, to lead the conference in points (19.8) and rebounds (9.1). 

All your bigs are belong to us. Internet meme/joke there.

But yes, it’s a standard contract for Petrusev and two-way deal for Tubelis.

Petrusev played in Summer League and was decent. Averaged 12.5 PPG and 4.5 rebounds in a couple of appearances. He was a 2021 second round draft pick and Euro stash who spent a couple of seasons as Gonzaga.

Tubelis went undrafted this year but was a standout player at Arizona, scoring 1,510 points to place 15th in school history. The Cats won a lot of games during that time period and he’s also represented Lithuania in international play.

Both guys are project bigs, 6’11” with a long way to go. Tubelis has a Zona highlight reel full of smart rim running and transitional moments, while Petrusev had some good mid-range and soft touch moments in Summer League. Set some decent screens, did some decent rolling, averaged double digit points and logged three blocks in the one game. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire, but wasn’t a dud either.

What’s important is that Nick Nurse can experiment now. Montrezl Harrell at point. Mo Bamba at the two. Paul Reed as a small forward, then Petrusev as a stretch four and Joel Embiid at center. Bully ball.