SOMEWHERE OVER MISSOURI –– Allowing my mind to wander as my headphones muffled the rush of the outside air and the ambient sounds inside the cabin of our cross-country flight, I am finally able to breathe.

But it wasn’t just the sweltering southwestern sun that made the Sixers’ Summer League tour exhausting; it was also the sheer volume of basketball. Sixty-four games between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas from July 6 to July 17 to be exact, eight of which featured the Sixers.

And while Summer League serves as a welcome oasis for sports fans at a time of year when Major League Baseball typically enjoys a monopoly, it often vanishes before we’ve had time to fully appreciate it. But as I look ahead to a calendar that includes two more basketball-deprived months before training camp begins, I want to commit to memory exactly what I witnessed in the 324 minutes of Sixers basketball I watched over the past two weeks. I figured I’d share it with you guys:

Jahlil Okafor Was Everything I Hoped He’d Be

Without question, Jahlil Okafor was one of the most highly anticipated players in all of Summer League this year. Selected third-overall in last month’s draft, the 6’11” throwback big man sat atop most experts’ mock drafts for nearly his entire freshman season at Duke. The nation’s top prospect in his class since grade school, Okafor was viewed as a can’t-miss talent, one who could succeed as a dominant low-post threat in an era in which his type has nearly gone extinct.

In five Summer League appearances he certainly showed fans that the hype surrounding his game was well-earned, averaging 15.8 points, 8.4 rebounds (3.6 offensive), and 1.4 assists in 30.6 minutes. And while his efficiency from the floor (44.0 FG%) and free-throw line (39.1 FT%) were areas Okafor admits did not meet the expectations he set for himself, the 19-year-old was able to dispel concerns about his ability to create clean looks and defend his position against NBA-caliber big men.

Okafor put on display the fantastic footwork and bullish strength that made him nearly impossible to guard at the collegiate level, showing off an ability to put the ball on the floor and score from the high post, establish low block position and bully opposing centers en route to easy buckets, and he even broke out a dream shake against Lakers rookie Robert Upshaw.

But the thing that impressed me most was his ability to turn the pressure placed on him by opposing defenses into easy looks for teammates (I plan to discuss this at greater length in an upcoming piece). And while he only notched seven assists in the five games he played, the fact that his teammates converted just 32 of the 110 threes attempted (29.1 3P%) in those contests certainly didn’t do him any favors.

Beyond the stats, Okafor was able to break double teams by making split-second reads and using his massive hands to whip passes across the court with stunning velocity and accuracy. Once surrounded by guys like Hollis Thompson (42.5% on catch-and-shoot threes), Robert Covington (39.6%), and Nik Stauskas (42.6% after the All-Star Break) come regular season, it will be interesting to see how teams prevent Okafor from either punishing defenders one-on-one or making them pay when they double-team him.

Arsalan Kazemi’s Hustle Was Hardest In Vegas

What 2013 second-round pick Arsalan Kazemi does on a basketball court – setting hard screens, diving for loose balls, closing out hard to contest kick-out three-pointers – is typically disregarded when it comes to official scorekeeping. But fortunately for the 25-year-old forward, the NBA chose to experiment with four new “hustle stats” at Summer League this year, observing and attempting to quantify the value of the often game-changing plays that are usually impossible to see when reviewing a box score after the fact.

The new metrics include two-point field goals contested (C2FGA), three-point field goals contested (C3FGA), deflections (DEFL), loose balls recovered (LBR), and charges drawn (CHRG DR), all of which are rolled into a composite measure, “hustle points”, using the weighted sum of all five numbers.

Through Friday’s set of games, Kazemi led all players with an average of 3.6 hustle points per game. Led by Iran native, the Sixers led all teams that played on Friday in charges drawn, deflections, and hustle points.

In five appearances in Vegas, Kazemi averaged 27.4 minutes and notched 3.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. He attempted just 14 total shots on the week, or one every 9.8 minutes he was on the floor, and drew more charges (7) than he had made baskets (6).

Thing 1 And Thing 2 Show Signs Of Growth

Last season, Sixers TV broadcaster Malik Rose dubbed Jerami Grant and JaKarr Sampson “Thing 1” and “Thing 2” because of their omnipresence together at the Sixers’ practice facility. And while the two were separated during Summer League, with Grant playing only in Salt Lake City and Sampson only in Las Vegas, the hard work the two have put in together during last season is paying dividends.

Both were considered undersized power forwards by most when they entered the league last summer, but the two spent much of their rookie seasons developing their perimeter skills. At Summer League, the two were given the freedom to handle a greater load of the Sixers’ offensive responsibilities than they had been able to last season, and while both still have room to improve – Grant went 2-for-10 from beyond the arc in Utah and Sampson went just 9-for-34 (26.5%) from the floor in his first three games in Las Vegas – they also showed promising signs.

The 21-year-old Grant averaged 11.7 points in just 21.3 minutes per game, doing so on just 8.3 attempts per game and shooting 66.7% on two-pointers. Sampson struggled early in the week but closed out his summer by scoring 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting in just 22 minutes in a 100-96 win over Houston on Friday. It was the first time the 22-year-old defensive specialist scored that many points in an organized game since high school.

Furkan Aldemir Have It All, Apparently

How have I gotten this far without mentioning Furkan Aldemir? The 6’10” big man led the Utah Summer League in rebounding, averaging 13.3 per game, and blocked 2.7 shots per game as well. Like the aforementioned Arsalan Kazemi, the Turkish sophomore is known primarily as a superb screener, skilled pick-and-roll defender, and, of course, an excellent rebounder, but what he did in his second game in Salt Lake City showed us that maybe there are aspects of the 23-year-old’s game that we’re overlooking.

In seven professional seasons in Turkey, Aldemir had never made a three-pointer. In his first NBA season, he attempted five and missed all of them. But in a July 7 meeting with the Boston Celtics, something clicked. After air-balling his second three-point attempt in as many games early on, it appeared as if the dream of seeing Aldemir finally knock one down would allude the fans gathered at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. But then, something magical happened.

Early in the third quarter, point guard T.J. McConnell drove towards the basket, causing the defense to collapse, and Aldemir, trailing, was left wide open behind the arc. McConnell kicked it out to him, and in one long, deliberate motion, Aldemir hoisted the ball towards the hoop. It found twine, and the Sixers’ bench erupted. Less than two minutes later, he was left wide open again and after receiving a pass from Jordan McRae calmly knocked down another. He missed his fourth attempt, but then, with less than a minute remaining and the game already decided, Aldemir took a three late in the shot clock that connected.

While we’re unlikely to see Aldemir spotting up from deep much in 2015-16, the fact that he has extended his range out beyond the arc after arriving in Philadelphia last November without much offensive game outside of eight feet is incredibly promising. As someone who didn’t enjoy the luxury of spending training camp or preseason with the team, he’s certainly a player whose development I’ll be keenly watching this year.

Second Time’s The Charm For Wilbekin

Guard Scottie Wilbekin was a late addition to the Sixers’ Summer League roster in Las Vegas, but he was also a players whose name fans in Philadelphia may have remembered from the summer prior. The Florida alum played for the Sixers in Las Vegas last year but struggled to make much of an impact, averaging just 3.3 points in 21.3 minutes per game and missing all 13 three-pointers he attempted.

This year, he averaged 14.4 points in 27.1 minutes per game and shot a scorching 45.5% from beyond the arc. In his third game with the Sixers, he went off for 26 points, the most any Sixers scored through eight games, and went 6-for-8 on threes.

He spent all of last season with Cairns Taipans of the Australian National Basketball League, earning club Defensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors while there. He has a deal in place to return to Australia next season but reportedly has the ability to opt out of that deal should an NBA team offer him a contract.