The Sixers are 7-1 after Monday night's 126-107 victory against Chicago. Three of their next four games are against fellow Eastern Conference contenders in Detroit, Cleveland and Boston. Perhaps for that reason, Nick Nurse might not make drastic changes to a rotation that keeps winning. After all, the Sixers haven't opened a playoff round at home since 2023 so locking up wins against other teams in the Eastern Conference now can only help for seeding later. However, there's one glaring mistake with Nurse's rotation that he needs to address.
When it comes to the bench, Nurse is playing Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope regularly. These are veterans who figure to factor into the playoff rotation as well come the spring. However, whether Labaron Philon sees the court in April and beyond or not, the rookie out of Alabama should be seeing more than the eight minutes per game he's currently averaging. Even in a 19-point win against the Bulls, Philon played just two minutes.
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While Philon was drafted towards the end of the first round this past summer, now's the time to find out what kind of player he could become. Of course, he can always grow into a bigger role next season and beyond, but should the Sixers set him on a path that's essentially burning a year of his rookie contract? Maybe that's a harsh way of phrasing things after only eight games, but it's the realest way of saying Philon isn't playing nearly enough.
For context, Tyrese Maxey was drafted 21stoverall in 2020 which is just one spot earlier than Philon's 22ndoverall in 2026. In the 2020-21 season, Maxey's rookie year, Maxey played 15 minutes per game and started eight games. That's a considerable uptick from the amount of minutes Philon is currently playing. Additionally, under Nick Nurse in 2024-25, Jared McCain played 25.7 minutes per game as a rookie in an injury-shortened season that saw him still start eight games. Neither of these comparisons is perfect as McCain was nearly a lottery pick having been selected 15thoverall in 2024 and Maxey would have probably been a lottery pick under non-COVID circumstances in his draft eligible season in college.
Part of the reason we're saying the Sixers have a backup center problem yet again is because they whiffed on the Johni Broome pick recently and Adem Bona doesn't seem to have any offensive skillset. Granted, those two players were recent second-rounders by Philadelphia, but the point stands. You want to get your draft picks on the court in their rookie seasons in the regular season when your rotation should be deeper. It's cheap production if they're good right away, gives you more clarity on what they could develop into down the line, and would also make it easier to move off of them in trades while they still have some trade value if the early returns aren't to your liking.
In the short term, don't we all agree Maxey could use more of a breather than what he's currently getting? Maxey is averaging a whopping 37.4 minutes per game which is currently second in the NBA to only Denver's Jamal Murray. Maxey's injury history is nowhere near as lengthy as Joel Embiid's, but that doesn't mean Maxey wouldn't benefit from seeing his minutes scaled back a bit. Maxey's also doesn't seem like the kind of player that would be concerned about various individual accolades that might not come his way if his playing time decreased. More importantly, everyone can agree Maxey needs to be healthy and full go come playoff time for Philadelphia to make a deep run.
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In the long term, wouldn't it be great if Philon developed into a sixth man at the very least for this team? Remember how awful Philly's bench was in the playoffs last year? Philon represents a long-term solution to what's been a long-term problem for the Sixers even if it's hard to see him ever getting on the court with long-term building blocks in Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Jaylen Brown all at the same time.
Make no mistake, winning is fun and the Sixers are doing a lot of it right now. But the best teams in every sport can fuse the present with the future and win in the current season and in seasons of tomorrow. I get it Sixers fans, the current season is probably all that's on your mind and I can't blame you as the Sixers have as good a chance as any other team does to win the NBA championship in 2026-27. But there's going to be basketball played in 2027 and beyond and Labaron Philon was drafted to be a part of that basketball for Philly so this season should also be about finding out what role Philon can have within this organization's long-term plans.
