What role will Labaron Philon fill in his rookie season?

Much of the conversation around the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason has revolved around the star-studded projected starting five, with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joining the incumbent trio of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe.

However, depth is vital over the course of a long NBA campaign. Mike Gansey addressed that issue in part with the free agent signings of Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Ariel Hukporti. With Wade and Simons in particular, those veterans bring known elements to the table that should prove valuable for the Sixers. Something that is more of an exciting unknown, though, is what role Labaron Philon will fill for this group with championship aspirations.

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Taken with the 22nd overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft, Philon’s selection was well-graded by draft pundits. Some saw him as a projected lottery pick after an All-America Third Team sophomore season at Alabama that saw him average 22.0 points, 5.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals. While evaluations formed in Vegas should largely stay in Vegas, Philon looked the part of an NBA player in averaging 18.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists across four appearances in Summer League.

While Philon was the main attraction for the Sixers in the desert, he’s extremely far down in the pecking order back east. He’s the clear fourth option at guard behind Maxey, Edgecombe and Simons, with James and Brown also assuming a ton of ball-handling responsibilities. On the one hand, it’s a positive that Philon won’t be thrown into the deep end right away to sink or swim. Conversely, there likely won’t be very many opportunities for the rookie to spread his wings and experiment with different parts of his game at the NBA level. (I’m recalling rookie Tyrese Maxey scoring 39 points in his first NBA start when the Sixers only had seven players available due to a COVID-19 outbreak.)

Part of me knows Philon isn’t of legal drinking age until November so there’s no harm in bringing him along slowly. However, I also have some scar tissue from Doc Rivers burying rookie Maxey on the bench far too often, and Nick Nurse not trusting Jared McCain to…

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Publish date : 2026-09-21 13:50:00

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