NBA draft news: Sixers take Labaron Philon, tells fans 'they're getting a dog'; Giannis trade gives Embiid new title

At media availability for the 2026 NBA Draft, The Inquirer talked to Bennett Stirtz about potentially joining the 76ers and replacing what the franchise lost when it traded Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Well, he'll join him instead of replacing him. Stirtz was selected at No. 16 by the Memphis Grizzlies and will be traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a pick swap. That will make him a teammate of McCain in a backcourt full of talent with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Lu Dort and former Sixer Isaiah Joe.

While Stirtz was excited about the idea of providing space on the court for Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, he'll surely excited to land at No. 16 and join a franchise one season removed from winning the NBA title.

Yaxel Lendeborg went from playing one varsity season at Pennsauken High School to an NBA draftee.

The 23-year-old forward, who starred at Michigan this past season, was picked No. 11 overall by the Golden State Warriors in the first round Tuesday night.

Lendeborg had an untraditional path to the draft.

The Dusty May move from Michigan to Dallas has made its first imprint on the 2026 NBA Draft.

The Mavericks elected to select Morez Johnson Jr. after he averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the 2026 National Champions.

Morez Jr., was asked multiple times at Monday's draft availability if he was aware of his coach's move and consistently said he was surprised and didn't have any inside information.

Another Philly connection comes off the board at No. 7 as Darius Acuff Jr., goes to the Sacramento Kings.

Acuff Jr., won MVP at the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic in 2025 and signed a Reebok deal during his lone season at Arkansas, taking pictures with Iverson to celebrate the moment.

He's receive on-court comparisons to Iverson as well because of his explosiveness in the paint and ability to finish around the rim. Both were also extremely productive in their brief college careers, as Acuff averaged 23.5 points and 6.4 assists as he led his team to the Sweet 16.

The early picks of the 2026 NBA Draft went exactly as expected with AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer and Celeb Wilson occupying the top four spots. 

And from there we will have an entirely open night before the Sixers finally make the first selection of the Mike Gansey era at No. 22.

There are a lot of options available for them, with holes on the perimeter and in the paint. The Sixers need shooting and rebounding so they will wait as names fly off the board and try to pick the best player available.

A Philly connection to top overall pick AJ Dybantsa: He played at BYU for former Sixers assistant coach Kevin Young.

At last year's NCAA Tournament in Newark, Young called that stretch "the most important time of my life as a young coach."

Young had been in the running for multiple NBA head-coaching jobs in recent years, before opting to take the job at BYU backed by lucrative NIL money and the resources to build a pro-style program. Last season, Young coached Egor Demin, who then was drafted eighth overall by the Brooklyn Nets.

Appearing on ESPN less than an hour before the start of the 2026 NBA draft, Commissioner Adam Silver appeared bullish on new rules intended to prevent teams from tanking for a better shot at the No. 1 pick.

"We will not be returning to a system where there's an incentive to be bad," Silver told ESPN's Malika Andrews. "I think it just caught up with us over the years. It was a practice by a very few teams over time."

Silver didn't mention the Sixers, who famously tanked for three straight seasons in the mid-2010s. Several teams were accused of tanking this season heading into a draft filled with a talented group of prospects, including the Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards, who landed the No. 1 pick.

Happy belated Father’s Day, Micah Nori.

On Tuesday, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that Micah Nori will become the franchise’s next head coach. Micah is the father of Phillies outfield prospect Dante Nori, a 2024 first-round pick.

Nori previously served as the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves, supporting the development of star shooting guard Anthony Edwards. Notably, with head coach Chris Finch sidelined with a ruptured patellar tendon during the 2024 playoffs, Micah took over a majority of the game-day operations that postseason. The Timberwolves would go on to make the Western Conference final.

NEW YORK – One of the prospects who visited the Sixers last week was Isaiah Evans, a sharpshooting wing from Duke.

Sound familiar?

It would be some strange symmetry if the pick the Sixers acquired in the controversial Jared McCain deadline trade was used on Evans. But Evans shot 36.1% on 100 three-point attempts last season, and excelled at on-the-move looks. That would boost a Sixers team that struggled from beyond the arc last season, ranking in the NBA’s bottom third in attempts and makes.

The 76ers found a few gems at the forward position when they signed Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to two-way deals and locked them in with standard contracts.

That said, the Sixers could still use top-end talent at the position. While Barlow and Walker filled a void, more help is needed for a Sixers team that struggled to rebound all season.

That became even more of an issue in the playoffs, where the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks dominated the boards. The Sixers also often opted for four-out lineup with Joel Embiid accompanied by Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre, and Paul George.

With Giannis Antetokounmpo heading to Miami, Joel Embiid has a new title.

The Sixers center, who was drafted by the franchise in 2014, is now the longest tenured player with a single team in the Eastern Conference. Antetokounmpo, the previous title holder, was selected by the Bucks a year prior. Just two players have been with a team longer than Embiid in the entire NBA: Stephen Curry (2009) and Draymond Green (2012) of the Golden State Warriors.

Led by Embiid, the Sixers have made the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons. However, come playoff time, Embiid has been repeatedly sidelined by injuries. This year, after returning from an appendectomy to help defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games, Embiid missed Game 2 of the Sixers’ second-round series against the New York Knicks. The Sixers went on to lose the series in four.

NEW YORK — Allen Graves chuckled when asked about the “analytics darling” descriptor that is consistently attached to him in draft scouting reports.

“I’ll take the title,” Graves said during Monday’s media availability. “I love it. … That’s just how I played my whole life. I pride myself on playing basketball, and if it shows up analytically, I guess that’s what it does.

“But I’m definitely grateful to have it, because it’s gotten me this far and I know how big of an impact it’s had on NBA scouts.

While the 76ers won't be selecting in the lottery this year, there is a Philly connection at the top of the draft.

Arkansas star Darius Acuff Jr., who is expected to be a top-10 pick, has been linked to Allen Iverson, drawing on-court comparisons to the Hall of Famer after winning MVP at the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic and putting together a stellar freshman season. He also sports braids like Iverson famously has for the better part of 30 years and signed a deal with Reebok before finishing his one season in college.

And while Acuff doesn't speak to Iverson often, he did receive valuable advice from the Sixers legend.

NEW YORK — Could the Sixers use the draft to continue adding to an explosive young perimeter group already spearheaded by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe?

Dailyn Swain would fit the bill, and is projected to the Sixers at No. 22 in ESPN’s most recent mock draft released Tuesday morning. The 6-foot-6, 211-pound attacking wing from Texas averaged 17.3 points on 54% shooting — primarily as an isolation scorer and finisher — along with 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Swain also has flashed the defensive playmaking that could excel in Sixers coach Nick Nurse’s aggressive scheme.

Swain, who turns 21 next month, also would provide some insurance if the Sixers lose starter Kelly Oubre Jr. or sixth man Quentin Grimes in free agency, which begins June 30.

NEW YORK – After the 'Nova Knicks won the NBA title, could the “Michigan Mavs” be next?

That was a popular topic during Monday’s draft prospect media session, which occurred just after news broke that Michigan coach Dusty May had been hired by the Dallas Mavericks.

After leading the Wolverines to the national championship in March, Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, and Aday Mara are all projected to go in Tuesday’s first round. When asked about following in the footsteps of former Villanova standouts Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart — who ended the Knicks’ 53-year title drought less than two weeks ago — Lendeborg grinned and laughed.

The 76ers' season ended with a four-game sweep against the eventual champion New York Knicks.

After the two teams had battled in a first-round series two years earlier, the expectation was that the Sixers would give the Knicks a tough test just like the Atlanta Hawks had in this year's postseason.

Not quite. The Sixers looked like they gave all they had to comeback from a 3-1 deficit against the Boston Celtics, and the most obvious sign of that came at the three-point line.

NEW YORK – Who are some sleeper prospects who could be in the range for the Sixers to draft at 22?

That topic was posed to a panel of basketball experts — ESPN’s Jay Bilas and Bobby Marks, and Fran Fraschilla — on Monday afternoon at the Lotte New York Palace hotel.

Marks, the former general manager of the New Jersey Nets, first mentioned Alabama guard Labaron Philon. Marks said he appreciated that, after declaring for last year’s draft, Philon returned to college to use the feedback he had received from teams to become a player who shot 39.9% from three-point range and averaged five assists per game. Bilas and Fraschilla agreed with that choice, but noted Philon may still go off the board in the lottery.

Chris Cenac Jr., center, Houston (The Athletic)

"Cenac has been an exceptionally difficult prospect to find a home for. The consensus seems to be that he’s going to go somewhere in the top 20, and he was among the second batch of players invited to the green room. However, the feedback I get from teams is that he’s more like a late first-rounder. He’s seen as a high-upside swing for teams that can afford to be patient and wait for him to improve his feel for the game.

The 76ers need another big, and Cenac could potentially slide to the four at times if his feel for the game improves. But he is more of a project than some of the other players the 76ers could take. This is a very difficult team to mock right now, as sources around the league are still trying to figure out what new head of basketball operations Mike Gansey’s type will be.

Tyrese Maxey is a prime example of the caliber of player a team could snag in the early 20s of the NBA draft.

But Jameer Nelson, the 76ers’ newly promoted executive vice president of basketball operations, also was quick to note that Maxey is the exception, not the rule.

“We got lucky with the person,” Nelson recently said of Maxey, the All-NBA point guard whom the Sixers drafted 21st in 2020. “We got lucky with the player.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo wants more championships. So do the Miami Heat.

Their interests are officially aligned — and the Heat finally have another superstar.

Ending a marathon watch for the next great Miami get, the Heat landed Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star — from the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in exchange for a massive haul of players and draft picks.

The NBA draft begins Wednesday, and for the third straight year it will be divided over two days.

The first round of the draft begins tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, while the second round will take place on Thursday beginning at 8 p.m.

For the sixth straight year, fans will have their choice of watching the first round of draft on two different networks — ABC and ESPN.

The Sixers enter Tuesday with the No. 22 pick in Tuesday night's NBA draft, but no second-round pick.

The Washington Wizards have the No. 1 pick, and they're expected to take either BYU forward AJ Dybantsa or Kansas guard Darryn Peterson.

The last time the Wizards has the top pick was 2010, when they took Kentucky's John Wall, whose career was slowed by a series of injuries.