On Sunday, the 76ers officially announced the signing of rookie center Adem Bona.
According to Shams Charania, it’s a four-year, $8 million rookie contract.
Bona, 21, appeared in each of Philadelphia’s eight summer league contests between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, averaging a combined 5.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.6 blocked shots. His team-high 2.4 blocked shots in five contests throughout the NBA Las Vegas Summer League ranked sixth among all participants.
Before being selected by the 76ers with the No. 41 overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft, Bona averaged 12.4 points on 58.8 percent shooting along with 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks (second in Pac-12) as a sophomore at UCLA. He was named the 2023-24 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being selected to the 2023-24 All-Pac-12 First Team.
Bona was named the 2022-23 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year the previous season, his first at the collegiate ranks. He finished second in the conference in field-goal percentage (67.5%).
Originally from Nigeria, Bona moved to Turkey when he was 13 and represented Turkey at the FIBA U16 European Championship.
Bona will be a developmental big for the 76ers. Based on his defense, it’s possible he could play a minor role for Philly next season.
Jones gets two-way deal
In addition, the 76ers announced that they had signed David Jones to a two-way contract.
Jones appeared in seven games with the 76ers between the Salt Lake City Summer League and the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per contest.
He capped off his summer action with team highs in points (23 on 9-15 FG), rebounds (eight), and blocked shots (three) in the team’s final contest against Boston on Sunday.
The 22-year-old, who was not selected in this year’s draft, spent the 2023-24 season at the University of Memphis, where he ranked sixth among all Division I players in scoring at 21.8 points per contest.
An All-AAC First Team selection, Jones became the first player in NCAA Men’s DI competition to average at least 21.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals over an entire season since 2018-19.
Before his lone collegiate season at Memphis, Jones played for St. John’s in 2022-23 and played his first two collegiate campaigns at DePaul.
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