A day after selecting VJ Edgecombe with the third overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers ended their 2025 NBA Draft slate by picking big man Johni Broome out of Auburn with the 35th overall selection, which is their lone pick in the second round, at least for now.
In Broome, the 76ers recognize a very pressing need in a frontcourt that remains gasping for functional options. Broome, at 6’10”, packs the perfect package of size, skill, and tenacity the team needs from a young big man to shore up the frontcourt. He is a physically imposng presence inside, adept at crashing the boards and packing the paint on both ends.
Still, it is hard not to reckon this selection as Philly’s brass similarly recognizing another reality — that of the front office finally letting go of Guerschon Yabusele in free agency.
The 76ers unofficially say goodbye to Guerschon Yabusele after drafting Johni Broome
Yabusele, who is coming off a strong individual campaign in his comeback season in the league, has been strongly hinted as an inevitable flight risk for the 76ers, largely due to financial constraints. Even Daryl Morey himself has signaled that the front office is choosing to keep Quentin Grimes over him in free agency.
Now, selecting Broome only fortifies that notion. The 76ers now have someone who can succeed Yabusele in the frontcourt, and while the latter’s versatility cannot just be replaced, the Auburn star is a more promising and clearly younger commodity who has ample room to grow under Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid.
The Frenchman will undoubtedly command a significant pay raise in free agency, with multiple suitors to boot. His ability to play all frontcourt positions, bang with bodies down low, make decisions with the ball, and fire away from three-point range will be plenty attractive, especially for teams looking to be in the playoff loop.
Hopefully, Boome will help the 76ers quickly forget about Yabusele. He will bring a much different skill set compared to the Frenchman as he is more of an under-the-rim operator than a versatile frontcourt piece, but his arrival could not come at a better time with the team still needing more depth behind and next to Joel Embiid.
But for now, this is an unofficial, yet increasingly conclusive goodbye to Guerschon Yabusele, who put on a mighty stand last season for a Philadelphia 76ers team dismantled by injuries.