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Sixers Fans Seem Split on Second-Round Pick Johni Broome
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The Sixers took Auburn’s Johni Broome in the second round of the NBA Draft. He’ll do his introductory press conference Friday at 11:30 a.m. alongside V.J. Edgecombe:
If you didn’t watch college basketball this past season, Broome was one of the best players in the country. First team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and a finalist for the Naismith Award, which went to #1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg. He’s a 6’9″ center who played five years of college hoops, first at Morehead State and then three season with Auburn between 2022 and 2025. He finished the 2024-2025 season with 18.6 points per game, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He blocked 2.1 shots per and played an average of 30.2 minutes over 36 games. The Tigers went to the Final Four and lost to Florida.
So he’s really one of those Jalen Brunson/Villanova-type of guys, relatively older for the draft at age 22, but tons of experience to draw on. Smart, tough, plays hard, etc – all of the stuff that makes up for deficiencies in his game and scouting concerns. That’s why you see a split among Sixers fans and media on the pick:
Broome is a paint player on both ends of the floor. Not the most athletic guy out there, which is a concern at this level, but he has a good post skillset on the offensive side and is a good rebounder and front court defender. He’s not the greatest shooter and has limited upside in developing into a stretch big who can go out to the perimeter and space the floor, which means that fit might be a concern and lineup usage might be limited. He only shot 27.8% on 2.5 threes per game, but that’s not a problem for the “bigs need to get their asses down low” portion of the fan base. Reminder, his immediate ceiling is Joel Embiid backup, depending on how training camp goes, and depending on how guys like Adem Bona look in 2025. You also have Andre Drummond coming off injury at age 31 and ask yourself what he has left in the tank.
This is one of those picks where you’re banking on the experience and tenacity and intrinsic feel for the game and hoping that all trumps the measurables and the statistics. One of those guys who won quite a bit at the collegiate level and can find a way to translate that at the NBA level. You’ve got these guys like Draymond Green and Herbert Jones, Alex Caruso and Malcolm Brogdon who were four-year college players and then went either 2nd round or undrafted and ended up turning out to be quite capable NBA players, so that’s the best-case scenario here with Broome.
What’s more is that the Sixers seem to value character guys in the draft, guys with good attitudes who love to play the game and compete hard, and they’ve certainly added those players in Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, V.J. Edgecombe, and now Broome.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com