The Philadelphia 76ers continue their roster-building in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft. After snagging VJ Edgecombe last night with the third overall selection, the team is out to find another young talent to fix some pressing roster issues and even potentially bloom as a building block for the future.
The second round is all about opportunities, and unfortunately for the 76ers, they just saw a perfect chance slip past their hands. Frontcourt depth is one of the areas they badly need to augment this offseason, and the impending exit of Guerschon Yabusele only makes that concern all the more expedient.
With the 31st pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns moved up and acquired the foremost pick in the second round from the Minnesota Timberwolves to draft Rasheer Fleming out of Saint Joseph’s, which was a pretty easy call to make given Fleming’s pre-draft prognoses.
And just like that, the 76ers missed out on a perfect replacement for Yabusele.
The 76ers miss out on perfect Yabusele replacement in the draft
Fleming, who stands at 6’8” with a 7’5” wingspan, was widely expected to end up getting off the board before the first round ends, so this outcome is actually pretty surprising. That makes the Suns’ move up to pick him all the more impressive.
But for the 76ers, this is undoubtedly a huge missed opportunity. The Suns paid a price consisting of three future second-rounders for pick No. 31, but the 76ers could have easily matched, if not topped that offer.
Yabusele’s fate has been unofficially sealed last night after Morey’s statement in his post-draft presser, and Fleming would have been a perfect way to pivot form him. The Saint Joseph’s standout is a malleable piece whose scoring ability and functional defense should make him ready for NBA minutes from Day 1.
Now, he heads to a Suns team in dire need of a frontcourt boost (or do they really) after trading Kevin Durant and having a mind-boggling litany of shooting guards. This at least helps them balance out the roster more, elthough their directions remains a nebulous one.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, this could have been the chance to not only snag arguably the best talent available in the 2025 NBA Draft during the second round, but also the perfect replacement for a key rotation piece in Guerschon Yabusele, who was huge for the team last season.