Cassius Winston is hoping for a second NBA shot while playing for the Sixers’ Summer League team

LAS VEGAS — Cassius Winston regularly waded into a sand volleyball court in Washington, D.C., using the extra resistance while running through lateral slides and other agility drills as part of his daily offseason workout.

After two seasons on a two-way contract with the Wizards, the former college All-American needed a new NBA home. That pursuit continues in the summer league, where he is the 76ers’ starting point guard aiming to prove he is worthy of another shot to carve out a complementary niche at the game’s highest level.

“I get to go out there, and these guys trust me,” Winston said following Saturday’s 97-77 loss to the Toronto Raptors in their Las Vegas opener. “They put the ball in my hands. Everything about it just gives me that platform, that opportunity just to showcase what I can do.”

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Winston finished with nine points, seven assists, and six turnovers against Toronto, prompting him to call it his worst outing with the Sixers. He was effective early, feeding Michael Foster for an alley-oop, floating a driving layup into the bucket through contact, and delivering a bounce pass to Jaden Springer for a corner three-pointer. But he struggled down the stretch, when his bad pass inside resulted in a turnover, he missed a three-pointer in the right corner, and he stepped out of bounds in virtually the same spot on the floor.

That performance followed two games at Salt Lake summer league earlier this week, when Winston combined for 14 assists and one turnover.

At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, Winston’s game has been more predicated on being sure-handed with the ball and reading the defense and less on sheer quickness or athleticism. He knows his primary job as a professional is to set up teammates, a transition from when he averaged nearly 19 points per game his final two seasons at Michigan State and became the 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year.

Winston said that adjustment has not been as jarring as an outsider might think, comparing it to his college freshman season when future lottery draft pick Miles Bridges anchored the Spartans. With the Wizards, Winston credited stars Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook, respected journeyman Ish Smith, and reserve Raul Neto with helping him develop his approach as a professional.

“When you walk into the game, it’s just a different mindset that you’ve got to kind of take,” Winston said. " … It’s not that hard to kind of just take a backseat and just be a solid PG or be a backup PG. Whatever guys need me to do, whatever I can do to help the team win has always been my main focus. It hasn’t been too difficult to kind of shift into that.”

Still, Winston never found traction after Washington selected him in the second round of the 2020 NBA draft. He appeared in 29 total games over two seasons for the Wizards and was pleased with his 2021-22 output with the G League-affiliate Capital City Go-Go, when he averaged 15.2 points and 4.4 assists in 12 games.

At the end of the season, though, Winston said he and the Wizards “just didn’t see eye-to-eye” on his future with the organization. And, per league rules, a player is only able to spend two seasons on a two-way contract with one team. So that sent Winston to the sand — and to the pool — to work on his strength and conditioning so he can “bang and bump.” He is also continuing to works on drills for his shot and ballhandling.

“It happens,” Winston said of the end of his time with the Wizards. “I feel like I had a really good season last year. I feel like they thought so, too. It’s just some things just don’t work out that way. Now I’m back in an opportunity where I get to go out here and just find a good organization, find a good team — somebody who believes in me, somebody who trusts me to throw me out there. That’s what I’m here for.”

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Prosper Karangwa, the Sixers’ vice president of player personnel and general manager of the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats, identified Winston as a summer league option. Dwayne Jones, the Sixers’ assistant coach/skill development who is serving as the head coach in Las Vegas, commended Winston’s calming presence and the way he can push the ball up the floor.

By the end of this summer league stint, Winston hopes he has demonstrated his playmaking ability to all 30 teams. And if he happens to stick with the Sixers, the move to Philly won’t be far from that sand volleyball court in Washington.

“I want to change the pace,” Winston said. “I want to control the game, make sure everybody’s out there eating, everybody’s out there getting shots. If I can do that, I feel like a lot of teams could use that.”