PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to win a championship after completely overhauling the roster with an aggressive offseason. The Sixers were able to add proven champions and MVPs in the form of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to a talented core and the focus is to reach the mountaintop.
Due to that thought process, there might not be minutes for rookie guard Labaron Philon Jr. The No. 22 pick in the draft has been able to showcase his skills a bit in training camp as he has caught the eyes of his veterans and coach Nick Nurse, but one has to wonder if he will be able to eventually earn rotation minutes.
President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has expressed his confidence in Philon and believes that the young guard from Alabama
will figure it out for the future.
"Yeah, he’s been great," Gansey said. "I think the first day of camp, it was, like, fast for him. He’s coming from college to summer league, but he’s really settled in the last couple days. I mean, he’s so talented. The thing I love about him, like, with all these guys too, it doesn’t really faze him. He’s just coming in there and competing and trying to earn some minutes and I think he’ll figure it out."
Philon is coming off a collegiate season in which he averaged 22.0 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 50.1% from the floor and 39.9% from deep. The Sixers will be looking to find a way to develop him a bit along with trying to win, but at the same time, he has to do his part in order to earn minutes in the future.
"I tried to tell him the other day, I’m like, ‘Being a point guard in this league, I think that’s the hardest position for a rookie to come in and it’s going to take some time.' But he’s a worker, he loves to be in the gym," Gansey finished. "So, I think he’ll figure it out here soon. But every day he’s been getting better and better."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers' Mike Gansey gives confidence to rookie Labaron Philon Jr.
