First-round pick Labaron Philon Jr. will make the Sixers more fun, and that counts for something
If Philon is the guy Jared McCain was for the Thunder this postseason, then the Sixers will at least have two additional years of him plus a few extra second round draft picks.
There’s a downside to the championship-or-bust mentality that permeates this city. The further one looks into the future, the less visceral the present becomes. One of the local radio stations posted a poll the other day. It asked Phillies fans if they were enjoying the team’s current run of success, or if they were waiting for October. The question was more than fair. Incisive, even. Anyway, are you enjoying your summer or is it just a prelude to winter?
I’m thinking about these things with regard to the Sixers’ decision to spend a first-round pick on Labaron Philon Jr. By all accounts, the organization made a no-brainer of a move in selecting the former Alabama star. Most experts ranked Philon much higher than the 22nd-best player in the draft. An offensive dynamo who averaged 22 points and 5 assists in his sophomore season, the 20-year-old was available to the Sixers thanks to a draft that was deep on overall talent and especially so on talent matching Philon’s profile. It is rare for a playoff team to draft a player as late as No. 22 and expect him to contribute meaningful minutes as a rookie. It is even rarer to expect him to do so in dynamic fashion. The Sixers expect both out of Philon.
“My initial thoughts are he’s a really talented scorer, right?” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said on draft night. “Really, really fast and explosive and can really, really get it in the bucket.”
» READ MORE: Labaron Philon Jr. believes adaptability is one of his ‘biggest traits.’ Applying that with the Sixers begins now.
And yet …
The Sixers selection of Philon did not come without some raised eyebrows, most of them from folks wondering about the end game. Didn’t the Sixers just trade away Jared McCain, another undersized guard whose upside would be capped by his inability to share the court with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe? Is Philon really the kind of player who will meaningfully improve the Sixers’ chances of fielding a championship team around Edgecombe and Maxey after Joel Embiid and Paul George are gone? Where, exactly, does Philon fit in a world where the best NBA teams are physical and positionless and can switch on defense 1 through 5?
The answer: who cares.
David Murphy alerts
The healthiest way to look at the Sixers right now is to forget about the bigger picture. They are not chasing a championship right now. Not next year, anyway. They are no longer all-in. The mission statement is no longer parade-or-bust. The Sixers have operated in that mode for most of the last decade. It is exhausting even when it is warranted, which it currently is not.
Could they surprise us? Sure, there’s a chance. It would involve a lot of ifs: Edgecombe taking a big Anthony Edwards-sized leap toward his full potential, Maxey continuing to take his remarkably consistent steps toward greatness, Embiid and George consistently being the players they were when they were at their best in the postseason. If all of that happens, then, yeah, maybe the Sixers could belong among the Knicks and the Pacers and the Heat and the Cavs and the Celtics and have as good of a shot as any of them at the NBA Finals. Maybe they could outpace the Hawks and the Hornets and the Wizards and the Raptors. Sure. If everything breaks right, then maybe they could.
The more likely scenario is that the Sixers can be a fun team to watch on a nightly basis, a team that can carry a city through late-winter doldrums between the Super Bowl and opening day. That should be their goal right now. Build toward a championship, and put out a good product while doing so.
The strongest argument for Philon is that he can play a significant role in that mission. Can a 6-foot-2, 176-pound guard have a role on a championship team that is built around Maxey and Edgecombe? Sure. Miles McBride had a role on a team led by Jalen Brunson. The Thunder traded for Jared McCain despite having Cason Wallace, and then they drafted Bennett Stirtz. De’Aaron Fox entered the NBA weighing less than Philon with similar length measurements. Likewise with Monte Morris, who averaged over 20 minutes per game in the Western Conference finals while playing alongside Jamal Murray and Gary Harris.
“He’s on the slighter side — he has to get stronger,” Gansey said. “But if you look at his freshman year at Alabama, he really guarded. I think this year he had to carry a huge offensive load, so I think he took a little step back there, but I know it’s in him. He’s got good instincts, good hands. He’s tough. He’ll get into people. He’s competitive. We just can’t have enough guards. In Cleveland, we needed guards, because it’s the playoffs, it’s half court, you need to go get a bucket. I think Labaron can go get one any time he wants.”
» READ MORE: Why Mike Gansey’s sound process in selecting Labaron Philon Jr. bodes well for Sixers’ future
That last point is a significant one. Buckets are the point of basketball. It is fun to watch guys who can get them at will. McBride is fun to watch. McCain is fun to watch. If Philon is the guy McCain was for the Thunder this postseason, then the Sixers will at least have two additional years of him plus a few extra second round draft picks.
“You need as many guards as you can that can go create a shot,” Gansey said. “Tyrese was No. 1 in minutes last year, VJ was up there as a rookie … we need depth at that guard position. I think he can come in and play some minutes and take a load off those two. I think he can play with Tyrese a little bit.”
If that’s what happens, then it is a win, even if it isn’t a direct line to a title.
The NBA has always been the pro sports league whose fans are most susceptible to the existential malaise that can accompany the clear understanding of a team’s place in the grand scheme of things. Only 12 of the last 36 championships have been won by a team that was not led by Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Steph Curry or Tim Duncan. Dating back to 1991, seven teams account for 28 of 36 titles. That reality is what inspired The Process. The Process led to a desperate quest to make it pay off. The best way to watch the Sixers the next couple of years will be with a little less desperation.
