The Sixer Sense
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NBA Preseason Roundtable: Ranking the Philadelphia 76ers Roster

By Jonathan Geib

Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, Joel Embiid, 76ers (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, Joel Embiid, 76ers (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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The Sixers are entering the 2023-24 with a slightly different roster from what they ended the season with last year. The core group of starters: Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and De’Anthony Melton are all returning, for the time being at least, but the bench has some new faces. This also includes a new head coach, Nick Nurse.

As we are on the verge of the regular season starting, The Sixer Sense contributors got together to rank the current Sixers players on the roster from 1 through 15. First up at 15, Filip Petrusev

Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers, Filip Petrusev, Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /

15. Filip Petrusev (written by Jonathan Geib)

Rounding out the Ranking of the Sixers roster in 15th is Filip Petrusev. Petrusev is a relative unknown to NBA fans, even Sixers fans may not be familiar with him. He was the 50th overall selection in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Petrusev’s basketball career has been a unique one that has seen him play professionally overseas, in addition to playing collegiate basketball in the United States for a year. During his freshman year, Petrusev played for Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs. In his one season in college, he was selected to the All-Freshman West Coast Conference Team.

After flirting with the NBA Draft after one season at Gonzaga, Petrusev chose to continue his playing career back in Europe where he would see relative success. He won Championships in both the Euroleague and Serbian League overseas and capped off his international career with a silver medal this year at the FIBA World Cup as a member of the Serbian National team.

The Sixers have held Petrusev’s draft rights since 2021.

Even still, he did not decide to come to play in the NBA until this upcoming season. Expectations for Petrusev should be tempered, as is often necessary with most European draft selections. Professional basketball in Europe is competitive, but nothing compares to the NBA.

The fact that Petrusev made the Sixers roster outright, and not as a two-way player, is a surprise in and of itself. This roster is flush with front-court depth and Petrusev will likely not see meaningful playing time in Philly. Pay attention to Petrusev in the coming years though, as the new head coach, Nick Nurse, has a reputation for developing young talent. We will have to wait and see if he can develop Petrsuev into a contributing player on this Sixers roster.