Mike Gansey, the Sixers’ new general manager, spent his post-draft press conference hinting that Philadelphia might sneak back into the second round. He mentioned it almost in passing. Fans perked up. The first-round pick — Labaron Philon, a 6-foot-4 point guard out of Alabama — had already split the room. Some people saw another undersized guard in a rotation that already has Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe. Others saw a lottery-level talent who fell into the early 20s.
So when Gansey floated the idea of a second pick, the hope was simple: go get a frontcourt player. Maybe Henri Veesaar. Maybe Tyler Nickel. Someone who could rebound, space the floor, and defend without needing the ball in his hands. Someone who wouldn’t compound the size problem in the backcourt.
That didn’t happen. The Sixers sat on their hands through 30 more picks. As of this writing, they haven’t even signed an undrafted free agent. So this draft class is one player, and that one player comes with a complicated backstory.
Why Philon is here and not Jared McCain
The pick the Sixers used on Philon originally belonged to the Houston Rockets. Daryl Morey acquired it as a conditional first-rounder in the Jared McCain trade with Oklahoma City. The condition — tied to Kevin Durant’s first season in Houston — conveyed. So Philon will be compared to McCain for the rest of his career in Philadelphia, even though they’re very different players in very different situations. McCain became a shooter off the bench in OKC. Philon is a lead guard who needs the ball to be effective.
That creates an immediate tension. Maxey played 2,661 minutes last season. Edgecombe logged 2,623 as a rookie. Those two combined for more than 5,200 minutes in the regular season. Quentin Grimes was the only other guard to crack 2,000. Nick Nurse ran those guys into the ground because Joel Embiid and Paul George missed huge chunks of the year. If the Sixers want to preserve Maxey and Edgecombe for the playoffs, they need another ballhandler to eat minutes.
Philon checks that box. At Alabama, he ran Nate Oats’ up-tempo offense for two years, improved his 3-point shooting to just under 40 percent as a sophomore, and averaged 22 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in 31 minutes a night. He turned it over only 2.5 times per game despite carrying the primary playmaking load. He won All-SEC and All-Region honors. He’s a quality floor general who can score in transition and make smart decisions.
The problem is what happens when Maxey is on the floor. Maxey is already an All-Star who does everything Philon does, only better. Philon has actually cited Maxey as a player he models his game after. That’s not a complement. That’s a player who plays the same position as the team’s best guard.
If Maxey and Edgecombe each play 36 minutes — which might be optimistic under Nurse — there are 12 minutes left for Philon to run the show alone. That’s not enough to develop a first-round pick. The only path to more minutes is playing Philon alongside Maxey, which works on offense but creates a serious defensive problem. Neither guy is big enough to guard up. Together, they’d get targeted by every team with a physical two-guard.
Maybe Philon adds some size. Maybe he proves he can hold his own next to Maxey. If he does, the Sixers have a three-guard rotation that could be devastating in the regular season, even if it needs an elite defensive power forward to cover for the lack of length on the perimeter. If he can’t, Philadelphia can probably flip him for another pick in the 20s if he shows enough promise early. Which would set up the whole cycle again: draft another sub-6-foot-4 guard and hope for the best.
Grade: A-. The player is good. The fit is the question.
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