The Sixers’ new era is about to get underway, and one of the first questions hanging over training camp is a familiar one: can they finally clean up the defensive glass?
That issue has dogged Nick Nurse’s teams for three straight seasons. Last year, opponents grabbed 30.9 percent of their own misses against Philadelphia, according to Cleaning the Glass, which ranked 27th in the NBA. The Sixers finished 30th in that category in 2024-25 and 26th in 2023-24.
It has not been a problem confined to the regular season, either. In the playoffs, both the Celtics and Knicks posted much stronger offensive rebounding numbers against the Sixers in their series.
“Clearly, the rebounding, especially defensive rebounding, is an area of concern and we need to get better,” Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, said in June.
The good news for Philadelphia is that the roster looks different now. Andre Drummond, the NBA’s all-time leader in defensive rebounding percentage, is gone from the backup center spot. New Celtic Paul George has long been well above average on the wing glass, and both Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes were solid defensive rebounders for their positions while with the Sixers, even if neither departure is a huge blow in that specific area.
The additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown should help more. James averaged 5.4 defensive rebounds per game last season, his lowest mark since 2014-15, but that still should give Philadelphia a real boost if he stays anywhere near that level. Brown came off a career-high 5.8 defensive boards per game and pulled down 14.8 percent of opponents’ missed field goals, per Cleaning the Glass, good for the 90th percentile among NBA wings.
The size and strength coming in with those two also matters. James is listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds.
Brown is 6-6 and 223 pounds. That kind of physicality should travel to the defensive glass.
Dean Wade, listed at 6-9, has also historically been a solid rebounder on defense. But not every move was made with that problem in mind. The Sixers did not sign guards Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or draft Labaron Philon Jr. with rebounding at the top of the checklist.
Even so, Nurse made it clear on draft night that rebounding has to stay part of the conversation if the Sixers want to use Philon in three-guard lineups.
“They’ve got to rebound, right? I think that VJ for his position is an excellent rebounder,” Nurse said.
“Tyrese (Maxey) is getting better as a rebounder for his position. We’ll have to see how they can rebound the ball.”
The backup center minutes remain a question too. Ariel Hukporti and Adem Bona are both a step below Drummond as defensive rebounders.
Hukporti’s edge is his size; he can stand eye to eye with the league’s 7-footers. Bona brings a nearly 7-4 wingspan, plus explosion and strength, but so far those tools have shown up more on the offensive glass than the defensive one through his first two NBA seasons.
There’s also the broader question of style. Nurse’s teams have leaned into turnovers and chaos on defense, and that kind of pressure can come at the expense of rebounding. If the Sixers keep hunting live-ball turnovers and pushing in transition, that may still fit this group, especially if the speedy Maxey remains one of the NBA’s best at generating steals.
But if the defensive rebounding issues linger, Philadelphia may have to dial back some of that aggression. That could mean less blitzing of star guards or giving Maxey and Edgecombe less freedom to gamble.
In the end, Nurse will be asking for better work from everyone, from Joel Embiid to Justin Edwards. However it gets done, the Sixers know the fix has to come on the defensive boards.
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