CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of getting themselves right for the postseason. With nine games left in the regular season, the Sixers are looking to pick off a few wins while they await the return of Joel Embiid.
To add to their big man depth, the Sixers brought in DJ Wilson on March 24 on a 10-day deal. Considering it’s only a 10-day deal, Wilson has much to learn in a short amount of time, but he’s feeling comfortable rather quickly with his new team.
Of course, it helps that Wilson was with coach Nick Nurse briefly while with the Toronto Raptors.
“I feel comfortable,” Wilson said at practice on Thursday. “I think day after day just learning more of the offense, defense, scheme sets, and all that pays dividends, but I’ve been with Nurse before so I’m kind of familiar with the basics. So it’s just going from there and I got great vets, great guys in the locker room to help me out, great coaches and all that so I feel pretty comfortable.”
Those months with Nurse have allowed Wilson to ease into his new opportunity with the Sixers. He has understood everything Nurse and the Sixers want to do in Philadelphia.
“Definitely,” Wilson said of the comfort level with Nurse. “In terms of like offense, defense, sets, things that he’s comfortable with. So yeah, definitely those few months in Toronto definitely helped me out.”
Wilson, a former first-round pick in 2017, hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2021-22 season with the Raptors. He played four games in Toronto and did not play at all in the 2022-23 season.
While this is just a 10-day deal with the Sixers, Wilson is looking to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him and give himself a chance to stick in the NBA for a while.
“Make the most of it,” he finished. “Take every challenge, be ready when my number’s called. Stay ready, so I don’t have to get ready, and just be a great teammate, and help win.”
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