Sixers rave about Trey Burke in first training camp practice
The 26-year old point guard turned heads on the first day of practices.
Trey Burke made a major first impression during the 76ers’ opening practice of training camp Tuesday.
“Trey Burke was amazing today,” point guard Ben Simmons said of the player battling Raul Neto for the backup point guard spot.
Coach Brett Brown added:”I thought Trey was really good today” before adding that Neto did some good things, too.
“I think Trey got that sort of dynamic dance with the ball, waterbug-type game that can keep defenses off balance,” Brown said. “I’ve experienced it as the opposition coach trying to guard it. I thought it was a very good day.”
Burke signed a partially guaranteed, one-year veteran-minimum deal with the Sixers this summer.
He averaged 9.7 points and 2.6 assists last season with the Dallas Mavericks.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder was the ninth overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2013 NBA draft. He was traded to the Utah Jazz for Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad on draft night.
Utah traded Burke to the Washington Wizards in July 2016. He spent the start of the 2017-18 season with the New York Knicks’ G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, but quickly became a fan favorite after signing a multi-year deal with New York on Jan. 14, 2018.
However, the Knicks sent him to Dallas on Jan. 31 as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
The seventh-year veteran comes to the Sixers with career averages of 10.9 points and 3.6 assists in 361 games. Burke was the 2013 national college player of the year at Michigan.
On Tuesday, the 26-year old guard resembled someone who could make a scoring impact for the Sixers.
“A guy like Trey Burke came in with a lot of energy,” forward Al Horford said. “He was really scoring the ball at will and was being very active.”