Ed Stefanski left for Las Vegas yesterday to watch a group of NBA players work out. But at a time when the 76ers' president and general manager is considering free agents to bring to Philadelphia, none of the assembled pros will be candidates to become new members of his team.
He was headed for a minicamp being held for the USA men's national squad. The 76ers' Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young were two of the 25 invitees, and while Stefanski is there to lend them some support, the trip is also an opportunity for him to rub shoulders with front-office personnel from other organizations, as well as agents.
The minicamp runs through Saturday.
The Sixers have a short list of free-agent guards and big men they have targeted. In addition to a point guard - the position that free agent Andre Miller manned the last two-plus seasons - the Sixers are in need of a swingman and two frontcourt men.
The team has 10 players under contract. Besides Miller, other players gone from last season's squad are forwards Reggie Evans (traded) and Donyell Marshall (free agent), center Theo Ratliff (free agent), and guards Kareem Rush (free agent) and Royal Ivey (free agent).
So far, the only new Sixers are Jason Kapono, a three-point specialist who was acquired from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Evans, and first-round pick Jrue Holiday, a guard. Jason Smith, the 7-foot forward who sat out all of last season due to a knee injury, also fills a spot.
Of the players missing from the Sixers' 2008-09 squad, Evans (79 games, 14.4 minutes) and Ivey (71, 12.1) received the most playing time after Miller. Stefanski is now essentially seeking a point guard, if Miller leaves, and bench replacements.
"The players we're looking at are guys that are not going to get the mid-level [$6 million] salary," Stefanski said.
The 6-4 Ivy, who did a serviceable job while playing both guard positions last season, opted out of the last year of his contract with the Sixers . But his return could happen.
"It was amicable," a source close to Ivey said about the player's decision to test free agency. "He has no qualms about going back, and they feel the same way. But if Andre [Miller] comes back, I don't see Royal going back."
According to a source with knowledge of the Sixers' recent activities on the free-agent front, Ivey is being considered along with fellow guards Luther Head (Miami), Bobby Jackson (Sacramento), Tyronn Lue (Orlando), Juan Dixon (Washington), and Carlos Arroyo, who played in Israel last season after seven years in the NBA.
The big men on the Sixers' radar, according to the source, are 7-1 Primoz Brezec (Toronto), 7-foot Aaron Gray (Chicago), 7-foot Ryan Hollins (Dallas), 6-11 Jake Voskuhl (Toronto), 6-10 Adonis Foyle (Orlando), and 6-11 Jared Reiner, who was not in the league last season.
Contact staff writer Kevin Tatum at (215) 854-2583 or ktatum@phillynews.com.
