With the offseason still raging on, not a lot of people have paid attention to the ongoing NBA Summer League. Nevertheless, the Philadelphia 76ers have been fortunate to get standout performances left and right. Case in point? Look no further than Johni Broome, who has managed to turn in a couple of strong showings in Vegas.
The sophomore big man has played two games for the 76ers so far in the mini tourney. In his first contest, he poured in 19 points and racked up 13 rebounds to help lead his squad to a win. In his second outing, he finished with 23 markers and 11 boards en route to another dub. Slowly but surely, fans are noticing his marked improvement ahead of Year 2.
In fact, Broome has looked so good thus far in the Summer League that he could actually end up getting more run than expected with the 76ers next season. That means that some jobs could be in peril, as the sophomore offers something different which the other backup big men on the roster simply cannot provide.
Johni Broome could crack the 76ers rotation in the upcoming season
Broome barely got any run with the 76ers last season as he spent most of his time in the G-League with the Delaware Blue Coats. To rub salt to injury, he got injured late in the season, which effectively preventing him from attaining any sense of in-house relevance.
Summer League performances can be quite temperamental as actual metrics to form preseason prognostications, but so far, Broome has clearly taken some leaps as a player. His scoring touch from all three levels has been on full display, and his rebounding –– which was highly touted out of college –– has been even better than advertised.
If Broome keeps this up and his standout showings spill over to training camp, he could very well end up making a handful of big men on the roster sweat. Dominick Barlow, Adem Bona, Ariel Hukporti, and Jabari Walker are basically auditioning to be the next primary backup to Joel Embiid, but Broome still has a lot to say in that regard, so it seems.
This could make life tougher for the coaching staff, but more competition at center off the bench is a good problem for this 76ers team. Embiid will still miss a considerable number of games by design, so having that optionality is good. That is more so the case with Broome on the loop since unlike the other big men mentioned, he can actually score without as much help from the other initiators on the roster.
Add us as a preferred source on Google