76ers 2026 NBA Draft grades for every pick

When new general manager Mike Gansey mentioned in passing during his post-round 1 press conference that the Philadelphia 76ers could potentially get aggressive and sneak back into the 2026 NBA Draft to make a second selection, it got fans in the City of Brotherly Love and beyond excited.

After making a pick in the first round that was anything but universally lauded, with some questioning the process behind adding a third small guard to a team that already employs Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, while others celebrated securing another lottery-caliber steal in the early 20s, maybe the 76ers would get another bite at the apple. Maybe the 76ers would add another young player to their roster, maybe even one of the more ready-made NBA contributors who were simply born too early to go in the first round of a youth-focused league?

With players like Henri Veesaar, Tyler Nickel, and Baba Miller still on the board, maybe Gansey could take some more of the spoils his predecessor, Daryl Morey, secured for Jared McCain or just some extra cash from the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, and secure a second-rounder, perferably one that deploys out of the front court, can do some 3-and-D, and, most importantly of all, rebound a ball or two in a lineup that will almost certainly include either a max player over 30 unwilling to mix it up in the paint or a sub-6-foot-4 guard more concerned with the fastbreak.

Instead, fans sat through 30 more picks, and while there was some interesting maneuvering, like the Detroit Pistons trading Isaiah Stewart to clear the runway for “Bball” Paul Reed to play more center, the 76ers weren’t involved with any of it, to the point where they still haven’t agreed to terms with any UDFA players an hour after the draft at time of publication.

So, in the end, this year’s draft class is a party of one, and will be judged as such, though not in a vaccum, as the only reason Labaron Philon is a member of the 76ers today is because Morey added the pick he was selected with as a conditional first rounder from the Houston Rockets in the McCain trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, which conveyed because of their unique first season with Kevin Durant. As a result, fans will have to weigh Philon’s career against McCain’s, even though they are relatively different players who find themselves in very different places at this point in their careers.

Labaron Philon has the game to be a star, but will he have a chance?

In 2025-26, the 76ers played their young guard tandem of Maxey and Edgecombe 5,284 total minutes during the regular season.

Despite only playing in 70 of the 76ers’ 82 regular season games, the All-Star guard still ranked first on the team in minutes played at 2,661, and Edgecombe was right up there with him, playing 2,623 minutes over 25 games as a rookie. Quentin Grimes, a shooting guard/small forward hybrid, was the only other player to record more than 1,700 minutes, with the impending free agent sitting at 2,206 over 75 games as a sixth man.

Needless to say, if the 76ers are going to take a step forward and win more games in the regular season this fall, they’re going to need to ease off the gas on their two best guards, allowing them to save a little bit of tread for the postseason after being run into the ground playing in games without Joel Embiid and Paul George for long stretches of the campaign.

In that vacuum, Philon absolutely checks a box.

A two-year starter at Alabama, Philon is used to operating in a fast-paced, pro-style offense with the ball in his hands. He improved his 3-point shooting to just a tick under 40 percent as a sophomore and averaged 22 points, three rebounds, and five assists per game in just under 31 minutes of action playing for Nate Oats. Philon was lauded for his decision-making with the ball, recording just 2.5 turnovers per game despite having the ball in his hand more often than not, and finished out the season with a slew of awards, including All-Region honors, All-SEC honors, and SEC All-Freshman honors.

If the 76ers were looking for a quality floor general to play next to Edgecombe in their backcourt long-term, Philon would be about as good an option as any player in this year’s draft available outside of the lottery. He could control the floor, get the ball to his shooting guard on the move, and still score on the regular in the open field, where the 76ers scooped up additional points on the run after securing a rebound.

The problem? Maxey is already an All-Star in all of those aspects, to the point where Philon has looked at the 76ers All-Star as someone to model his game off of, instead of as a complement.

As a result, even if Maxey and Edgecombe only play 36 minutes per game, which might still be under Nick Nurse’s desired range, that only leaves 12 minutes for Philon to run the show as a solo point guard.

If that’s all Philon can play on the regular, he likely wouldn’t be much more effective than McCain’s run playing under Nurse last fall. No, for Philon to become a quality player for the 76ers, he needs to be able to play with Maxey, which is possible on offense, but could create issues on defense due to their lack of size.

While Maxey’s 2025-26 season will go down as his best as a pro so far, he may have been most effective playing next to James Harden, when the 76ers were able to be a more dynamic offense where both combo guards could benefit from a well-placed pass for an open 3-pointer. Even as he’s become a more complete player capable of running the show Jalen Brunson-style with the ball in his hands in the fourth quarter, Philon might just have a higher ceiling than any of his new teammates or even McCain, who was almost exclusively used as a shooter instead of a playmaker with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

If Philon can get a little bigger and prove he’s at least not a backcourt liability next to Maxey, the 76ers could really have something with their three guards, even if they will need an incredible defensive power forward to fill in the gaps while Joel Embiid mans the paint.

Would it have been easier for the 76ers to add a player like, say, Cameron Carr, who is more of an off-ball wing, or even to have traded up a few spots for a player like Jayden Quaintance? Sure, but in the end, the 76ers got the best player available, and if it becomes clear Philon can’t play with Maxey and Edgecombe long-term, they can likely move off of him for another pick in the 20s if he shows enough promise, which, in turn, could set up drafting the next sub-6-foot-4 guard to join the team.

Grade: A-

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