Ranking Sixers’ 25-and-under players based on potential
The Sixers will enter the 2022-23 season with championship expectations. They’re a veteran team at heart, led by two of the NBA’s most dominant offensive veterans in Joel Embiid and James Harden. But the Sixers are also… young. There are currently nine players age 25 or younger on the roster (not including two-way contracts and Exhibit 10 training camp deals).
Youth doesn’t necessarily win championships, but the Sixers have done well finding affordable talent through the draft and the trade market. Daryl Morey has built his reputation on star hunting, but he should be equally credited for his remarkably solid draft history.
Philadelphia’s younger players are as much a bridge to the future as they are immediate contributors. Embiid and Harden can’t play like superstars forever. The next generation of Sixers basketball very well start with players already on the roster.
Let’s rank them based on long-term potential, with fit and current ability factored into the equation as well.
. 25 years old. Philadelphia 76ers. Trevelin Queen. 9. player. 93
Ranking 25-and-under Sixers — 9. Trevelin Queen
Trevelin Queen is fighting an extreme uphill battle to even make the team. Odds are he won’t. The 25-year-old isn’t without his merits, though. He won G-League MVP last season and appeared in 10 games for the rebuilding Rockets.
At 6-foot-6, Queen has good size on the wing. He’s an effective spot-up shooter with some movement shooting ability. He can also attack closeouts effectively. He was a primary scoring option for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers last season, but that won’t be the case in the NBA. Especially not in Philadelphia, where he needs to learn how to complement offensive stars like Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey.
Queen evoked P.J. Tucker when discussing his path to the NBA and how he views his role at the topmost level. “I just try to fit in where I can get in at” (h/t Ky Carlin at SixersWire). That’s the right mindset to have. He has the positional versatility and floor-spacing qualities necessary to make it in the NBA, but the Sixers are too deep. Another team would be wise to give Queen a real shot.