Ricky Council IV ‘makes the most’ of his time with the Sixers, and it’s paying off

LAS VEGAS — Ricky Council IV is a good example for undrafted NBA players.

The 76ers forward took a backseat to Terquavion Smith, Javonte Smart, and DJ Steward on the Sixers 2023 summer-league team. At that time, Council was more of an athlete than a complete basketball player.

But he was determined to get better and worked countless hours in the gym. That led the former two-way player to having a great season with the Delaware Blue Coats and contributing for the Sixers last season, earning a standard deal.

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Not satisfied, the 22-year-old stayed in the Philadelphia area this offseason to put more time in at the Sixers practice facility.

All his work is paying off.

Council is a strong rotation candidate for the 2024-25 season. And one year after being viewed as a raw role player, he’s the Sixers summer-league team’s go-to guy, averaging 18.7 points and was the third-leading scorer at the recent Salt Lake City Summer League. The 6-foot-6, 205 pounder also shot 42.1% on three-pointers.

“If you can play basketball, someone will find you at some time,” said assistant coach Mike Brase, who’s leading the summer-league team. “It might be when you are young in the process and being recruited or when you get older. And in Ricky’s case, he went to Wichita State and Arkansas and [goes] undrafted [last summer] and makes the most of it.

“That’s the beautiful thing about this game and this league is there’s opportunities for guys. If you take advantage of it, you’ll be rewarded well.”

Council’s improvement is also tied to better shooting mechanics.

“Now, I feel like I’m at the point where it’s smooth and coming off my hands right,” Council said. “Good rotation — It feels good, and I’m comfortable shooting.”

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The second-year player will look to showcase what he’s working on at the NBA Summer League. The Sixers open up tournament play Saturday night against the Detroit Pistons at Thomas & Mack Center.

Council knows what the Sixers coaching staff expects out of him.

“When you have outlines of what they want you to do, all you have to do is apply that and focus on that when you are on the court,” he said. “So they want to see me be able to space the floor and knock down shots. So I have been doing that.

“And showing them things they may not know what I can do. Just trying to show an all-around game.”

Sixers rookie guard Jarden McCain is “super excited” to get to know six-time All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry, who re-signed with the team Friday.

“I don’t know how many years he’s been in the league,” McCain said, “But, I mean, an NBA champ, he’s been there and done that. So I can ask him so many questions. I’m very excited.”

Lowry, 38, will begin his 19th NBA season in 2024-25. He made his league debut on Nov. 1, 2006. At that time, McCain, 20, was 2 years old.

“That’s crazy,” McCain said.