The Philadelphia 76ers have a slew of interesting decisions to make next season, and one less talked about questions surrounding the roster is who will get the main backup role to spell Joel Embiid off the bench? For now, the team has a couple of options between incoming sophomore center Adem Bona and rookie big man Johni Broome.
Embiid, who is strongly believed to miss training camp and some games to start the 2025-26 regular season, is obviously a huge question mark by himself. That throws everything up for review for the coaching staff when it comes to plotting lineups and rotations, but their decision as to who should primarily back him up when he is healthy also needs a firm resolution.
After all, Embiid’s main backup will also most likely start a considerable number of games. The 76ers already have the most back-to-back sets in the league next season, and the superstar’s delicate injury situation guarantees that he will miss most of the second legs and then some.
Now, should the coaching staff go with the springy and athletic Bona or the more savvy and fluid Broome (yes, we’re disregarding the declining Andre Drummond)?
The 76ers are facing a quiet dilemma off the bench
Bona, who appeared in 58 games during his rookie year last season and is currently suiting up for Turkey in the EuroBasket, seems to be the big man who is more likely to get a lot of minutes early on, starting in lieu of and backing up Embiid. A more traditional center, he offers a lot of valuable vertical spacing for the team, being the lone lob threat in the lineup.
THe 22-year-old shot 70.3 percent from the field last season, primarily off lobs and putbacks. Defensively, he is also quite valuable thanks to his physical tools, and he also has the mobility to keep up in Nick Nurse’s switchy and shifty tactics on defense.
On the other side of the coin is Broome, whom the 76ers drafted in this year’s draft in the second round. Normally, second-rounders like him would spend most of their time in the G-League, but that is something the coaching staff should not lean on doing.
Broome is a more conventional back to the basket big man who can occasionally spot up on the perimeter. Offensively, he is undoubtedly the better option than Bona, although his defense falls a bit short. He is also a great rebounder thanks to his frame.
Depending on what the 76ers value more between defense and scoring off the bench, they cannot really go wrong with either young big man. But this certainly makes for a good mini-narrative in training camp, where Nick Nurse and his crew will have a more in-depth look at how the team fares with either of them manning the center spot.