The Sixers have their Las Vegas summer league group locked in, and the headliner is easy to spot.
Philadelphia announced its roster Monday for the event, which runs from Thursday, July 9 through Sunday, July 19 and guarantees every one of the league’s 30 teams at least five games. The Sixers open Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET against the Pistons, and their first four contests will be shown on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.
T.J. DiLeo is back in charge as head coach, taking on the summer league job for a second straight year.
The roster includes two players from the Sixers’ main team: No. 22 overall pick Labaron Philon Jr. and second-year big man Johni Broome.
Philon arrives with a chance to put his skill set on display after averaging 22.0 points and 5.0 assists as a sophomore at Alabama. At his introductory press conference, he pointed to the roots of his ball-handling ability and the work that followed.
“I would say with the ball handling, it definitely started in the streets in my mom’s backyard,” he said at his introductory press conference. “And at Alabama, working on everything I needed to work on. Working on getting to the paint, working on slowing things down and making the game easy for you and the people around you.
“I feel like that’s one of the best traits that I bring to the table, really - just making the game easy for others, getting into the paint and being able to provide for myself and my teammates. I feel like just working on that footwork and things like that is very important, just to have those options and not just look to score the ball.”
In Other News...
Sixers May Have An Obvious Fix For Their Biggest Remaining Hole
The 76ers still have a clear frontcourt question to answer as they sort through the rest of their offseason, and it starts with what happens behind Joel Embiid. Philadelphia already knows it will need another body at center after losing Andre Drummond in free agency, and the need becomes even more obvious when Embiid is expected to miss a considerable number of games for rest and load management. For a team trying to keep its rotation steady over the long haul, that is not a minor detail.
Nick Richards is one of the more practical names in that search, especially for a roster that could use more size and athleticism in the middle. He split last season between the Suns and Bulls and gave Chicago a workable reserve presence when called upon, which is the kind of profile that can matter in Philadelphia. The question now is whether the Sixers see enough value there to make a move before the market settles. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers May Be Running Out Of Time For Their Preferred Move
The Sixers still have one open roster spot, and the front offices next move appears tied to how the market shakes out around the league. ESPNs Brian Windhorst noted that Philadelphia is among the teams weighing the possibility of a bigger name changing course, but the more immediate issue for the Sixers is practical: they need help on the wing, and they need it without much financial flexibility.
If the preferred path never opens up, the fallback list is already taking shape. Philadelphia has been linked to options such as Ziaire Williams and Khris Middleton while it looks for a fit that can add depth and size on the perimeter, and Nicolas Batum also remains a name to watch as the team sorts through its final roster spot. The challenge is finding the right balance between value and need before the available choices start disappearing. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Just Shocked The East By Splitting Up Jayson Tatum And Jaylen Brown
Bostons decision to break up the Brown-Tatum partnership marks a significant shift in the Eastern Conference landscape, ending nearly a decade of continuity around two wings who helped define the Celtics rise. For Philadelphia, it also adds another layer of intrigue to a division that already has no shortage of familiar grudges and high-stakes matchups.
The move reflects how sharply the Celtics have re-evaluated their future, with the organization clearly choosing to build around Jayson Tatum and treating him as the centerpiece going forward. However the rest of the roster settles, the ripple effect is obvious: a rivalry that once lived inside one locker room now carries into the conference race itself. [Read more 🡒]