June 21, 2026
David Banks/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Could the Sixers really draft another small guard?
In the eyes of many, new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey needs to utilize the No. 22 overall pick in Tuesday's 2026 NBA Draft to give his team some more size.
But what if he instead wants to add more speed or shooting?
Fit versus best player available is one of the constant debates this time of year. Gansey has publicly spoken about aiming to achieve them both. The reality is, given the precarious nature of the Sixers' short-term championship aspirations, it is difficult to justify factoring fit into the conversation all that much on Tuesday. In our latest Sixers mock draft roundup, the team is slated to land three very different prospects:
Bryan Kalbrosky introduces a new name to Sixers fans. Philon is an extremely gifted and efficient scorer for a guard, and he could go as high as the lottery. Philon recently worked out for the Minnesota Timberwolves, slated to pick at No. 28 overall. Even if Minnesota pursues a trade up the board, that would indicate Philon being available in the 20s is at least conceivable:
"Even though the All-SEC guard was not playing at 100 percent during March Madness due to injury issues, he played well in the tournament, recording 35 points during a loss against Michigan. He also notched 29 points in his first-round game and 12 assists in his second. The guard averaged 22.0 points per game this season, and he improved his 3-point shooting from 31.5 percent as a freshman to 39.9 percent as a sophomore, while also managing 5.0 assists per game in the process." [USA Today]
The burning question: would the Sixers really trade Jared McCain away for a first-round pick and three second-rounders in part because of their small and crowded backcourt, then use that first-rounder to draft a player even slighter (176 pounds) than McCain?
MORE: Asking experts which prospect the Sixers should draft with No. 22 pick
Another new name here courtesy of Cameron Salerno, who makes the case for arguably the best three-point shooter in this year's class:
"Evans went from almost strictly a pure catch-and-shoot 3-point specialist at Duke during his freshman year to a legit No. 2 scoring option on the No. 1 overall seed in college basketball. Evans almost doubled the amount of 3-pointers he took from this year to last and still knocked them down at a 36.1% clip." [CBS Sports]
Evans took threes at gargantuan volume last season and was still extremely reliable. He should be picked in the final third of the first round, and there would be some irony in the Sixers drafting a special shooting prospect from Duke with the pick they acquired for McCain.
MORE: Coming up with Sixers trade ideas – some flashy, some not
Zach Buckley circles back to arguably the most common prospect to be linked with the Sixers this cycle:
"With Joel Embiid and Paul George still chewing up huge chunks of the payroll, the Sixers will take all of the cost-controlled depth they can find. Reliability should be a draft focus, in other words, and Swain feels pretty likely to deliver. Now, how much he delivers will hinge on the improvements he's able to make to his shaky shot. Even without a knockdown jumper, though, he'll be helpful to have for his length, athleticism, downhill attacking, connective passing and defensive playmaking." [Bleacher Report]
Swain has some pretty special abilities as an on-ball player, and the Sixers could view him as a device to get Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe off the ball every now and then – Maxey said after the season ended that he would be eager to play off the ball more – but if Swain does not cement himself as a quality spot-up three-point shooter, the ceiling will be somewhat limited.
MORE: Asking an expert about Swain's fit with Sixers
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