At least one important person in the Philadelphia 76ers organization values Evan Turner as a starter. Fortunately for him, that person happens to hold the most influence over the decision. 76ers coach Doug Collins said he told Turner that he is a starter. However, 76ers fans like me shouldn’t get too excited about seeing Turner in the starting five anytime soon. It seems that Collins views Turner as a starter in terms of how important he is to the team. However, he isn’t planning to elevate him to starter status officially any time soon.

Collins said he spoke to Turner about his status with the team. He said he acknowledged that being a starter was a goal of Turner’s and that is one reason he worked so hard in the offseason. Collins respected that by telling Turner that he believe he’s a starter. However, he also believes Turner works great with fellow reserves Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams. He essentially gave Turner an endorsement by saying that if he switched roles with Jodie Meeks, the 76ers would not be as good because Meeks would not be able to play as well with Young and Williams.

Collins is committed to the idea that he has eight starters. I respect that formula because the 76ers have depth and it worked in the 2010-11 season. Turner will no doubt get as many minutes as most starters so it doesn’t really matter when he gets them. However, I have to think he will eventually be a guy that opens the game on the court. The expectation is that Turner will be much better this season than he was as a rookie. I can’t see Collins looking at that improvement and not doing something about it.

For now, all seems well with the way Collins has set the lineup. I only hope Turner keeps his head on his shoulders. He will no doubt face questions as to why he isn’t starting. But I think he understands that he is one of the top five players on this basketball team. As long as his minutes are strong, I think he will stay happy. But if Turner is as good as everyone hopes, Collins will have to find a way to get him on the court more. That likely means he will hear his name as a starter.

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While the Philadelphia 76ers are getting in the swing of things, rookie first round draft pick Nikola Vucevic is having a tough time adapting. According to reports coming out of 76ers camp, Vucevic has struggled to adapt to his new team in camp. His shot has been poor and he has looked sluggish running the floor. As a 76ers fan, that is concerning news considering the high draft status of Vucevic. Doug Collins is taking the high road regarding his new player. He mentioned that Vucevic is still tired from playing a lot in Montenegro. He is confident that he will be playing well before we know it. I hope that is the case.

I trust Collins a lot, so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. He has mentioned that Vucevic is struggling to adjust to the new time zone. In addition, he has been playing competitive basketball while most of his teammates have not. That certainly adds a little wear to him. Assuming those are the problems, Vucevic should be back to normal sooner rather than later. I’m curious to see how Collins plays him when the 76ers face the Washington Wizards in a scrimmage on Friday, December 16. He figures to get at least some action in that game. I’m not expecting him to be a force. However, he should at least regain his speed and his shot. That will be a good indication of whether or not Collins is correct in his assessment.

The good thing about Vucevic is he has time to develop. He won’t be counted on to play a big role for the 76ers in the 2011-12 season. In fact, if he steps up and becomes a key player, it will be more like a bonus. This draft pick was more about potential than immediate help. The 76ers have enough players right now to allow Vucevic to grow and develop. I am much more interested in what I see out of him at the end of the year than what I see now. Of course, if he can’t adjust in the next couple of weeks in terms of practicing, that would be a whole other issue. But I will defer to Collins until he gives me reason to do otherwise.

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The Philadelphia 76ers will open up training camp on December 9. Between now and the season opener around Christmas, there are going to be a lot of changes facing the 76ers. As a fan, I’m looking forward to seeing what Rod Thorn and Doug Collins have in mind for this team. While the 76ers definitely have room for improvement, the team is going to focus a lot on the young talent they have. One thing I want to see is the backcourt of the future take shape in the 2011-12 season. That means that Jrue Holiday(notes) and Evan Turner(notes) need to have big seasons.

Holiday is already on that track. He really played well under Collins in his second season in the league. When I watch Holiday, I see a potential superstar point guard in this league. He knows how to pick his shots and he knows how to set up the offense. I expect Holiday to take his game to the next level this season. He could be an All-Star if he stays on the track he is now. I think the 76ers expect a lot from this year and I believe he will deliver.

The progress of Turner will be a little slower. The second overall draft pick in 2010 entered the league with a lot of promise. However, it took him a long time to find his niche in Collins’s system. In fact, there are many that think he might not be there yet. Turner showed flashes of brilliance last season but also went several games without even seeing the floor. In the offseason, he spent a lot of time working on his shot. That should help him improve. I think Turner will be better but I still think he is another year away from reaching his potential.

One of the biggest reasons that the 76ers are starting to excite fans again is the combination of Holiday and Turner. The two young stars have a ton of upside and many hope they can become the best backcourt in the NBA for years to come. They won’t be there yet this season but they should be a lot better. As long as they continue to work hard and grow a little with each game, Holiday and Turner will become what 76ers fans hope they will be.

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PHILADELPHIA — Amid the uncertainly that surrounds the Philadelphia 76ers [team stats], coach Doug Collins has kept some routine.

He’s also maintained his optimism.

Collins concluded a week of meetings and film sessions with his staff on Friday, and more sessions like it are planned, even as the start of the NBA season is in jeopardy because of the lockout.

Collins wants to keep operations running as usual and have the Sixers raring to go whenever a labor deal is reached.

“We should be able to hit the ground running, which is exciting,” he said by phone Friday.

Collins planned this week exactly as he did at this time last year when he started his first season coaching the Sixers. He’s taking a weekend break to travel to Durham, N.C. for a celebration of Duke basketball (his son is an assistant on the men’s team), but then it’s back for more work next week.

“We’re planning our season,” Collins said. “We’re getting together, we watched a lot of tape, watching a lot of things on film that we want to teach. We put together some practice plans. It was really to get together and start planning our training camp.”

When that starts, no one knows for certain. The Sixers would usually open camp the first week of October, but the lockout has thrown a dose of confusion into the league. The two sides return to the bargaining table Tuesday, this time with more players and owners, to try and find a way to end the league’s lockout and save the 2011-12 season.

Collins spent the summer in San Diego, enjoying a relaxing summer as a satisfying reward for an exciting first season in Philadelphia. He left the TNT broadcast booth to take over a team that won only 27 games. He led them from the draft lottery to the playoffs, where they lost a five-game series to the Miami Heat.

Without the stress of prepping for a game, he relived the fun this week over film sessions. His staff broke down the season into 90-minute highlight reels and they took an up-close look at how the Sixers shook off a slow start to playing some of their best basketball in years.

“It was really fun to go back and watch how well our guys were executing and how well they started doing things,” Collins said. “It gives us a great blueprint so that when we get started this year, it’s going to be so much different. I know the guys now. I know the things that were good to us on the floor. I know what we like to do.”

He just can’t personally pass along the rave reviews to his players. Like around the rest of the league, Collins and the rest of his staff and management are banned from communicating with his players.

Collins formed a tight bond with his team a year ago and was never afraid to become emotional around them. Sixers forward Elton Brand said in an interview last month how much he missed receiving the upbeat text messages from Collins.

Collins’ lessons on the value of teamwork made an impact. Led by Brand and Andre Iguodala, a large group of Sixers participated in team workouts last month in Los Angeles. Guard Evan Turner, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft, stayed in Philadelphia this summer and was tutored on shooting by Hall of Fame college coach Herb Magee. Other players posted on Twitter their detailed offseason workout plans.

It’s a nice way to keep updated — but it’s not the same as a personal connection.

At least the Sixers are easy to find.

Remember last April, when Philadelphia 76ers wing Andre Iguodala(notes) missed a season-ending exit interview with his team’s coaching staff and front office, and blamed it on a team-scheduled doctor’s appointment that he had to attend?

Did you follow up and read the part that told you that Dre’s appointment was actually at a building across the street from where the exit interview was being held, and that 76ers brass just assumed he’d deign to cross the street and meet with his employers following it?

Iguodala did get around to meeting with coach Doug Collins two months later, before the NBA’s lockout made any such interaction punishable with up to a million-dollar fine. And, according to Iguodala? They cool.

From Kate Fagan at the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“We spoke, it was really brief. It was about 10 minutes, it wasn’t long: “What we can do to improve, what our plans are going forward. It wasn’t too much. But, I’ve never had a problem with Doug, so we made that clear that we never had issues. So we were good.”

Collins is notorious for being a little frosty, and falling in and out of love with his players. And with Dre suffering through an injury-plagued first season under Collins while making an eight-figure salary, you can understand why Iguodala was a little nervous while anticipating the interview that he eventually skipped out on.

Still, you can’t skip. And you certainly can’t wait two months to make things right. Maybe the layoff helped chill things out a bit. Then again, it’s Doug Collins. Probably not.

Dre confirmed that he did join Elton Brand(notes) and several other Sixers teammates as they held a training camp of sorts in Los Angeles last weekend. He also doesn’t think he’ll play overseas should the lockout continue, and also that he and Doug Collins are so, so cool now. He swears.

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