On Tuesday, at the NBA Draft at Barclays Center in New York City, the Philadelphia 76ers added another dynamic guard to the mix when they selected former Alabama star Labaron Philon Jr.
With the selection of Philon, the 76ers have a guard who can score at a fairly high level. As a freshman, Philon averaged 10.6 points per game, but in his second season at Alabama, he pushed his average to 22.0 per contest. In addition, his three-point percentage went from 32% to 40%.
The 20-year-old discussed the reasons behind the improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 at Alabama.
“My freshman year playing with a great guard like Mark [Sears],” he said after being selected by the 76ers. “I would say it helped me to get to this point, being able to play well with other great guards. But my second year, being able to be a lead guard and being able to take that role. Really just the ability to adapt, I would just say. So whatever the situation I’m put in, really just growing in it and being comfortable, really. I would say that’s the biggest thing for me.”
Philon will be playing with some top-level guards in All-Star Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, and Philon believes that this collection of guards is going to be tough to stop.
“Adding me, it’s a blur,” Philon said. “You’ve got two guys that are really shifty, two guys that know how to handle the ball and a guy that can jump out the roof. That means everything in the backcourt. I feel like Coach [Nick] Nurse is going to have a fun time with that.”
The 76ers traded Jared McCain at the trade deadline to the Thunder for pick 22, which turned into Philon and three second-round picks, so now we’ll see if the deal was really good or bad for the 76ers. For now, it appears the 76ers got a decent prospect, who should help a team that was in desperate need of bench help in the playoffs last season.
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