Keve Aluma flashes his shooting ability with Sixers’ summer league team
The center-power forward honed his skills in Japan and Korea after starring at Virginia Tech.
LAS VEGAS — Keve Aluma keeps materializing out of nowhere for the 76ers’ summer league team.
He elevates his play under an avalanche of pressure and arrives at the moment of distress. That’s why it’s hard to imagine any other unheralded player having a summer quite like Aluma.
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The 6-foot-9 reserve center/ power forward is shooting 73.3% through a combined four games in the Salt Lake City and NBA summer leagues. In addition to making 22 of 30 shots, he is averaging 13.0 points and 5.2 rebounds, and shooting 55.5% on three-pointers.
“I just think I have a lot of good teammates that give me good shots,” Aluma said. “Just being aggressive when the moment comes. And I just think our team just wants it. We want it.”
One could argue that no one wanted it more than the former Virginia Tech standout Saturday in a 94-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons in both teams’ NBA Summer League opener.
Aluma finished with 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting to go with eight rebounds, one block, and a steal in 22 minutes, 3 seconds. Eight of his points came in the fourth quarter on 3-for-3 shooting.
After scoring six straight, the 25-year-old gave the Sixers a seven-point cushion with 3 minutes, 4 seconds remaining.
Aluma’s first basket during the stretch was a pick-and-pop three-pointer. He followed with an old fashioned three-point play while being fouled on a reverse layup.
“We were struggling for a while, not really hitting our shots,” Ricky Council IV said. “We really didn’t have a rhythm and then I think it really started with his [personal six-point run] After that, we were rolling.”
But Aluma’s summer league success is the result of the hard work he has put in while playing overseas the last two seasons.
The Maryland native played for Niigata Albirex BB in Japan during the 2022-23 season before playing in Korea for Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus this past season.
Aluma says he has learned to be decisive since he left Virginia Tech as a second-team All-ACC player in 2022.
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“Basketball, you can’t hesitate,” he said. “Sometimes I get out there with teammates I don’t know well and hesitate and not be confident. And the main thing is just going out there and being decisive with what you want to do and being aggressive.”
His time in Japan provided opportunities to play both the center and power forward positions like he did Saturday.
Aluma backed up Sixers second-round pick Adem Bona at center against the Pistons. However, he played alongside Bona in the fourth quarter. In Japan, Aluma played with 7-footer Kofi Cockburn for the second half of the season. That led to his learning the power forward position and adjusting to facing the basket more.
“Then in Korea … it was probably 50-50 I was playing that four spot or five,” he said. “So just adjusting to that, learning new ways to score and be effective.”
And he keeps doing that this summer for the Sixers.
Aluma scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting against the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 8 in the Salt Lake City Summer League opener. The next night, he scored 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting versus the Memphis Grizzlies in an SLC game.
“I just think when I get on the court, just be aggressive and decisive with what I do,” he said, “and also just feed off my teammates and their energy.”