Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow get extended look at power forward during Sixers’ preseason

The 76ers are still waiting on the preseason debut of new forward Trendon Watford, who remains out for Friday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic with a hamstring injury.

But Watford’s absence has provided increased opportunity for fellow newcomers Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker, who are both on two-way contracts and have potential to eventually snag a full roster spot.

Barlow started both preseason games against the New York Knicks in Abu Dhabi, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds in the first matchup. Walker then peppered the box score in the second game, with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal, and a block.

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Coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday after practice that he was pleased with both players’ decision-making off drives. Barlow added that his “role is pretty simple: Make open shots, and play the right way. Guard. Crash [the glass].” Walker said he is working on finding pockets in the defense off short rolls to the basket, and letting it fly as an outside shooter after he increased his three-point percentage from 29.5% in 2023-24 to 38.9% last season.

“I talked to him about [the shooting],” Nurse said of Walker, “and he just said, ‘Coach I was so tired. We were working so hard I didn’t feel like my legs were good enough to pull the trigger.’ That’s the way it’s going to be in training camp. I’m not tapering off leading into the game.”

Barlow, who previously played for the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks, said he builds cohesion with new teammates by asking questions and going full-speed during practice repetitions. He is aiming to sharpen timing with star point guard Tyrese Maxey, and learn how former MVP Joel Embiid wants teammates to cut and space the floor when the big man receives his catches.

Rebounding, meanwhile, is a skill that Walker hopes to flash more moving forward. In three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Walker averaged 10 rebounds per 36 minutes. And his new Sixers teammates — including Embiid, former NBA rebounding leader Andre Drummond, and Adem Bona — are “testing” that aspect of his game in practice.

“I’m like, ‘Yo, these are some of the top rebounders in the league,’” Walker said Thursday. “ … It almost makes you not want to go for the rebound anymore when you see all that down there. But I have to remind myself I’m up there with them [in ability].”

The Sixers returned from Abu Dhabi with positive reviews. Nurse appreciated that the facilities and resources allowed the staff to accomplish its training camp goals. Barlow enjoyed visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

Yet the trip was perhaps most meaningful for Bona, whose two brothers, Obinna and Emeka, watched him play a basketball game for the first time.

Before last week, Obinna and Emeka had only seen Bona practice or play pickup games as a child in Nigeria. The sport then took Adem to Turkey, then to UCLA, then to the NBA and the Sixers.

When Bona learned the Sixers would play two preseason games in Abu Dhabi, he began the process to acquire the proper travel visas for his brothers. But Adem acknowledged “it’s always hard to get a visa out of Nigeria, so they really didn’t expect anything.”

But those visas came through. The Sixers’ social media team captured video of Obinna and Emeka in the stands, yelling “Booooona!” when Adem was announced in the starting lineup and “This is my house!” when he elevated for a block.

“It was an amazing moment,” Bona said Wednesday. “Everyone was really proud of us, in general, what we’ve done. Just to be able to hear them yell midgame … [it reminds] you why you play.”

Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said at media day that his team is in a “prove-it” phase after an atrocious, injury-riddled 2024-25 season and the lingering uncertainty surrounding the health of Embiid and fellow max-contract player Paul George.

A similar sentiment exists among Morey’s colleagues across the league. In NBA.com’s annual anonymous general manager survey released Thursday, the Sixers were the clear top pick for the team whose “level of success this season is toughest to predict.” The Sixers received 47% of the vote, and no other team received more than 7% (a seven-way tie between the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, and New Orleans Pelicans).

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The Sixers also ranked fourth in the category of which team would be the most improved, with 10% of the vote. They were behind the Magic (47%), Hawks (20%), and Spurs (20%).

In the individual categories, Maxey ranked as the third-fastest player with the ball in his hands, at 7%, behind San Antonio’s De’Aaron Fox (53%) and Memphis’ Ja Morant (33%). VJ Edgecombe, meanwhile, was a distant second to Cooper Flagg in predicting Rookie of the Year (97% to 3%), and also received votes in the category of which rookie will be the best player in five years. Fellow Sixers rookie Johni Broome also received votes for the biggest steal of the 2025 draft, after being selected 35th overall. Nurse received votes for the NBA’s best coach.

Embiid, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2023 and a two-time league scoring leader, did not appear anywhere on the survey, after an ongoing knee issue derailed last season.