Backup center has always been a highly discussed and important role for the Sixers. What does the team need in that spot to not completely tank their minutes without Joel Embiid? How do they survive when he inevitably misses time due to injury, as he did for most of last season? How can they improve from the ever rotating (and usually underwhelming) mix of veteran centers they’ve had in the past?
Well, last season, rookie Adem Bona was a breath of fresh air.
His playing time may have been low and infrequent
over the first couple of months, but the flashes were there. Then, as his playing time increased from January, Bona started proving he can already be a genuinely viable backup center. One who could already simply be better than his veteran teammate, Andre Drummond.
Bona finished the season averaging 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.4 steals and 1.2 blocks with 70.3 percent shooting and a passable 67 percent free throw rate. And following a quieter start to the year, from the beginning of February to the end the season, Bona averaged 9.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.7 blocks in his 21.6 minutes per game with 70 percent free throw shooting.
If you want one standout number to highlight some of Bona’s defensive talent and impact, he averaged a whopping 3.8 blocks per 100 possessions. That ranked him joint third in the NBA, behind only Walker Kessler (also at 3.8), fellow rookie Donovan Clingan, and Victor Wembanyama.
Entering the NBA, we knew Bona’s incredible athleticism combined with his motor gave him a host of defensive tools. Tons of bounce, a near 7-foot-4 wingspan, strength, speed, fight on the glass, explosive and rangy shot-blocking, and remarkable lateral quickness for a player of his size to shift his feet at the perimeter against smaller players. He had all the Sixers could want to make an impact off the bench at that end of the floor.
It’s this side of the floor where Bona will inevitably always leave the biggest mark, and we saw that ability often in his rookie campaign.
When it comes to improvements the Sixers can hope Bona to make in 2025-26, it centers around his offense. He clearly has a bunch of potential as a high-energy, high-flying finisher, both as a threat to run the floor in transition or burst to the rim with his power and speed as a pick-and-roll threat. He’s already started making more of impact in that way, though, as he developed through last season.
Bona has a great reputation with his coaches and teammates as a hard worker, and that’s translated to some of the simple yet important offensive developments he’s made. Whether it’s getting better at finding space through defenses as a roll man, catching teams off guard in space in the dunker’s spot, using pump fakes more often to get defenders off their feet before he hammers home dunks, or even creating a little for himself with fake dribble hand-offs.
He had a nifty fake DHO and some solid face-up drives in his best game of the year against the Bucks on Apr. 3, when he dropped 28 points on 13-of-15 shooting (plus six boards, two steals and three blocks). Building on that improving touch as a finisher and agility that not all opposing bigs can keep up with could really help Bona take his offensive game up a level.
Defensively, more experience should only help, and continuing to polish his composure and reducing his fouls would be the main benefit. In the early months of his rookie year, Bona’s fouls were frequently high — just as you’d expect for most rookie big men tasked with protecting the rim. But he improved as the year went on, allowing him to play 20 or 30-plus minutes far more often. After racking up 6.3 fouls per 36 minutes from the start of the season until the end of January, he cut his fouls down to 4.2 from February onwards. As a rookie learning on the fly, who was fairly quickly thrown into a larger role, that’s pretty good.
Increased opportunity should continue for Bona, too. Of course, the hope is that Embiid can actually put together a far healthier season. But for the backup spot, Drummond didn’t exactly lock up that role last year. Apart from having his own injury struggles, Drummond had the worst rebounding season of his career, he’s always been a limited finisher, and Bona may simply have more to offer than the 32-year-old. Whether it’s athleticism, blocking, finishing, vertical threat, or defensive versatility to switch, Bona has various advantages over Drummond. Not to mention the benefit of youthful potential (along with his tireless work ethic) to keep getting better.
Add to that the buzz that the Sixers are looking into moving one or both of Drummond and Kelly Oubre Jr. to open up more money to pay Quentin Grimes, and Bona really could be set to take on an important role next year.
He looks ready to do so, too. If Bona’s defensive IQ and reduced fouling continues trending in the right direction, and can be combined with any offensive growth, he’s going to be quite the valuable role player.
