Nick Nurse Impressed With Sixers' Two-Way Forward

While Barlow only appeared in two games for the Sixers at the NBA Summer League earlier in the offseason, in which he averaged 13.5 points and seven rebounds per game, he has managed to become a key part of Philadelphia's systems across their three preseason games, playing against the likes of Eastern Conference contenders such as the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic.

The task of playing against this level of opposing talent and how well he is seeming to do it is something that Sixers' head coach Nick Nurse discussed following Barlow's 12-point and nine-rebound night against Orlando, as Philadelphia fell 128-98.

"He's doing a lot of things, you know, very well, he's been matched up against KAT [Karl Anthony Towns] and [Paolo] Banchero in his three preseason games as a starter, so he's battled those guys," Nurse stated to the media. "He's running, he's got a little handle and drive to his game, and obviously really jumping off the page as an offensive rebounder, so I'm happy to see that, he also has a really good understanding of what we're doing out there, he really executes everything and knows the coverages and all that kind of stuff, so a very pleasant surprise with him for sure."

To Nurse's point, Barlow has averaged seven rebounds per game across the three games of the Sixers' preseason so far, with six of his boards on Friday night coming on the offensive end of the court. This isn't anything new to the 22-year-old's game, as he averaged 8.6 rebounds last season as a part of the College Park Skyhawks in the G-League.

Does Barlow has a spot on the Sixers' roster when the regular season rolls around?

Given how he has been performing in the preseason matches, as well as Philadelphia's various training sessions, Nurse isn't exactly opposed to keeping the two-way player with the Sixers for the immediate future, highlighting his work rate and determination as positive values.

"I think for sure he does, at least rotation wise for sure, we're starting that way with him now, he's the best at that kind of position right now he's played that way for most days, I would think for sure, if he's going to keep playing like this, which I expect him to," Nurse explained. "He's been a very hard worker, very studious, and continuing to work on his game, he's in there early every day, he's really putting max effort into seeing there's an opportunity, he's trying to jump on it."