You know the drill: today is Tuesday, which means it is time for our weekly Sixers mailbag. Your questions this week, which come from Bluesky, focus on the Sixers' potential opportunity to trade down from the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, whether or not the team can find a diamond in the rough via trade and Adem Bona's long-term outlook after a strong close to his rookie campaign:
From @cjl78.bsky.social: How do you feel like they should balance picking their guy at No. 3 vs. getting assets in a trade back? People tend to think of No. 3 to No. 10 as a tier but at what point is it just about trusting your conviction if you have one of two of those guys ahead of the pack?
If the Sixers have a "guy" at No. 3 – a player they believe is definitively the best prospect available – they should almost unquestionably just take that player and not worry about trading down. If they could move down a spot or two and remain certain their preferred prospect would still be available to them, trying to add an extra asset would be a nice bonus. But if that player is Rutgers forward Ace Bailey or Baylor guard/wing V.J. Edgecombe, for example, the risk of the player being gone even one pick later would be too great to take that sort of gamble.
The ideal spot to be in with a top pick is the one that the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs are in ahead of the Sixers. Each of those teams is in position to draft a prospect everyone agrees has true star potential and there will be next to no stress about the process whatsoever. Based on the consensus views of Bailey, Edgecombe and others, there is no clear-cut, no-doubt-about-it decision for the Sixers. But that does not mean the Sixers' prospect evaluations align with mainstream ones.
It is incredibly enticing to canvass the teams below the Sixers in the lottery looking for a way to add a quality rotation piece while still having a meaningful draft pick. For the people – myself included – struggling to ascertain which prospect makes the most sense for the Sixers, the easiest solution is to say the team can maximize this asset by moving down the board and turning it into more assets.
That could be true. But above all else, picks of this magnitude can be maximized by drafting a star player that becomes a franchise cornerstone. Nobody has proposed or thought of more ideas to trade down than me – in part caused by my own skepticism of Bailey, Edgecombe and others – but if the Sixers think either of those players, Texas sharpshooter Tre Johnson or even Duke guard/wing Kon Knueppel is head and shoulders above the pack as a prospect, this does not need to be remotely complicated.
ASKING NBA DRAFT EXPERTS ABOUT SIXERS' POSSIBLE CHOICES AT NO. 3
Ace Bailey | V.J. Edgecombe | Kon Knueppel
Derik Queen | Tre Johnson | Khaman Maluach
From @kellenpastore.bsky.social: The Sixers seem to need young depth to compete next year. Are there young players on teams who aren't quite working out they should try to acquire? Isaiah Joe and Aaron Nesmith are two who worked out in their second stop in the conference finals right now.
A fun question! President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey indicated immediately after the season that the team would make a significant effort to have a younger supporting cast moving forward after an offseason filled with veteran signings flopped in a major way. And every team is always looking for their version of Joe with the Oklahoma City Thunder or Nesmith with the Indiana Pacers. On Monday night, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a prime example of this sort of player who breaks out after being given up on, nearly swung Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in the Minnesota Timberwolves' favor. It took three teams for Alexander-Walker to break out. Now, he is an elite role player guard primed to earn a major pay raise this summer.
None of those players were remotely high-profile names when they were acquired by the teams they have since become critical parts of. But good NBA scouting can help a team accumulate depth in ways that are not necessarily conventional – a more important skill than ever given the increased value of team-friendly contracts in a new, restrictive salary cap environment.
So, none of these players are high-profile. But there are names that stand out, particularly when thinking about players who might not have enough opportunity in their current organizations:
• Cam Whitmore has two cheap seasons left on his rookie contract, but was a complete non-factor in the Houston Rockets' seven-game series in the first round against the Golden State Warriors, only playing six total minutes. Whitmore would likely come at a price of some kind given the multiple years of control and very obvious talent level heading into his age-21 campaign (30.1 points per 100 possessions across two NBA seasons on slightly below-average efficiency). But it is undeniable that his stock has fallen in Houston, where many other young players have already emerged.
• A player I have always been fond of is Craig Porter Jr., currently the Cleveland Cavaliers' third-string point guard:
Craig Porter Jr. over his last 5 games:
14.4 PPG
2.6 RPG
4.8 APG
59.6% FG
50.0% 3PT
92.0% FT#LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/1IVnj7uGXW— Mack Perry (@DevaronPerry) November 26, 2023
There has been very little opportunity for Porter to earn a significant workload due to Cleveland's stellar starting backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Ty Jerome's breakout as an elite backup point guard this season further complicated things for Porter. If Jerome leaves in free agency this summer – a distinct possibility – perhaps Porter will have a lane to become a rotation regular. If the Cavaliers re-sign Jerome, though, perhaps Porter will be available.
• When negotiating mock trades down from No. 3 with other NBA writers, a player I tried to sneak into a deal with the Washington Wizards was Justin Champagnie, a soon-to-be 24-year-old wing who shot 38.3 percent from beyond the arc on solid volume last season. Champagnie is already signed to an extremely valuable contract – on the books for another three years, but for barely over $8 million in all, with none of that money guaranteed. If Champagnie peaks as a back-end rotation wing on a good team, that contract will be a massive win for his team. He does not seem far off from that status.
• If you want an extremely deep cut, I am intrigued a bit by Mavericks wing prospect Olivier Maxence-Prosper, who will be 23 years old next season with 92 NBA games under his belt across a pair of seasons. Prosper's offensive game is very much a work in progress, but at 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and exciting athletic tools, the makeup of a valuable player is very much there:
OMax with the best game of his young career tonight:
11 Points
4 Rebounds
2 Assists
1 Block
57 FG%
50 3P% pic.twitter.com/KHJw4RpZK6— coopz (@Coopz___) December 12, 2023
How much more time will a win-now Dallas team invest in this developmental project? It is fair to wonder if the intensity surrounding their current situation could lead to the Mavericks pulling the plug on it.
MORE: Offseason trade targets to monitor
From @rcrotty.bsky.social: Do you think Adem Bona is the long-term answer at backup center, or should the Sixers look for a center with the second-round pick?
I believe Bona has shown more than enough to receive continued investment of time – behind the scenes and on the floor – with the hope that he will continue to evolve on his way to a long career as a quality NBA center. The Sixers' backup center situation will always be pretty complicated if Joel Embiid is their starter, because they will need more than one quality backup five.
But I think the Sixers can count on Bona to at least be a viable option as soon as opening night of the 2025-26 season thanks to his motor, shot-blocking and mobility. Bona drew rave reviews from teammates and coaches alike down the stretch of his rookie season, showing major progress as a rim protector, passer and play finisher:
2:19 of Adem Bona's finest moments against the Milwaukee Bucks last night in the Sixers rookie's career night:
28 points (13-15 FG)
6 rebounds (3 offensive)
3 blocks
2 steals pic.twitter.com/7xXrOvr2Zw— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
Bona is far from perfect, but the makeup of a quality backup center in the NBA could not be more obvious, from his physical gifts to his athletic tools to his work ethic and clear desire to improve. The Sixers are optimistic that he can be part of their rotation for years to come.
With that being said, if the Sixers are convinced that a big available at No. 35 overall is just as good, or better, Bona's impressive final months last season should not dissuade them from selecting that player. Not only because Embiid's consistent lack of availability requires multiple trustworthy backups, but also because second-round picks are not such significant resources that they must be used to fit a team need. If you get a rotation-caliber player at any position in the second round, it is a major win.
MORE: Bona year-in-review
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