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Lebaron Philon Jr. Was the Right Pick Because You Can Never Have Too Many Bucket-Getters
By Matt Schultz
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The Sixers took Labaron Philon Jr. with the 22nd pick of the NBA Draft on Tuesday night, and by pretty much all accounts, this was an excellent pick. Philon was projected to land in the 9 to 19 range, so for him to fall to 22 was a pleasant surprise for the Sixers front office, who used their pick to grab the best value on the board – not that everyone’s thrilled about it.
A vocal contingent of Sixers fans are concerned about the guard’s fit behind Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe, arguing that Philadelphia would have been better suited to draft for roster needs – getting a wing or a big to fill in for the oft-injured Joel Embiid – rather than clogging up the guard rotation.
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey was asked about it during the post-draft press conference – specifically about the possibility of going with a three-guard lineup – and had this to say:
“Through this whole process, we had a ton of discussions on all these guys, and [Nick Nurse] was like, “I think maybe at times, [when] we go small, we want three guards. Three guys out there who can get a bucket and can get downhill and it could work.”
Gansey and Nurse are right here. Personally, I’d go even further: I’m not bothered by having three scoring guards at all, especially considering that Philon was far and away the best value play at 22. The kid is a bucket getter, and having a dynamic shot-making, playmaking hooper with elite speed and high energy is exactly what this Sixers roster needed. The Sixers had the fourth-lowest bench scoring in the league last year. For Gansey to patch that problem this much with a pick this late in the first round is a huge win.
A lot of the pushback against the Philon selection is that the Sixers just traded a small guard in Jared McCain, then drafted another small guard. This doesn’t make much sense to me. What’s the logic there? The Sixers traded away a guard, so that must mean they no longer want guards on the team? It was two different player-personnel executives making these moves anyway.
Also, I’ll say it – I think Philon has a way higher ceiling than McCain does. He’s already better than Jared with the ball in his hands, he’s a more natural scorer, and he’s way less limited in how he can impact a game. Not to mention he’ll be on a rookie contract for four years, while McCain only has two years left before he’s got to be paid. This isn’t even close for me; Philon is the better option. The Sixers also got three future second-round picks in that McCain deal. The Sixers may have won this trade! Maybe by a lot!
Also, the “we don’t need another guard” argument gets muddied when you remember that through the playoffs, every Sixers fan I know was bitching about how much we could’ve used Jared McCain and how dumb it was to trade him – myself included. That just happened! We just needed a guard like a month ago, and now we have one, and people are saying we don’t need one. What’s going on there? Doesn’t make sense! You’re being emotional! Use your head!
And for anyone else out there who’s not convinced that Philon was the right pick, I’m of the opinion that you simply haven’t watched enough of his tape yet. The tape is sick. He’s so good. Watch this stuff, you’ll come around:
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com