September 15, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
The Sixers cannot wait any longer for Adem Bona's development to accelerate.
Welcome to PhillyVoice's series of Sixers player previews ahead of the 2026-27 season.
After two years of volatility, Sixers fans entered this offseason teetering on apathy. Then came new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey, the architect of what became a dream summer. Gansey traded Paul George away, landing five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics. As Gansey accumulated depth around Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, the door opened for an unfathomable addition.
LeBron James is a member of the Sixers, rounding out one of the most talented starting lineups in recent NBA history. And suddenly, the Sixers have cultivated more local and national interest than ever before. Games are not won on paper, but the Sixers are built to be full-blown championship contenders for however long James remains in Philadelphia.
As Sixers Media Day on Sept. 28 nears, our player preview series will focus on two key questions surrounding each member of the team's 14-player standard roster.
Up next: Adem Bona, whose first two years as an NBA center have come with flashes of promise and confounding errors. Bona is one of the league's best shot-blockers, but comes with little offensive utility and has struggled to establish himself on the defensive glass. Ariel Hukporti is now in the mix to challenge Bona for the primary backup center spot behind Embiid. What does Bona have to do to hold onto that spot?
SIXERS PLAYER PREVIEWS
Joel Embiid | Labaron Philon Jr. | Dean Wade | Dominick Barlow | Adem Bona
Many of the folks tired of waiting for Bona to put the pieces together are particularly tired of his unforced errors, whether they be his fouls far away from the basket, uncoordinated charges into the lane or bad hands. But the truth is, if he combined his shot-blocking and rim protection with some better defensive rebounding, those miscues would be small potatoes.
With Bona on the floor last season, the Sixers have a 67.7 defensive rebounding percentage, according to DataBallr. That would have been tied for 27th among all NBA teams. (With Bona off the floor, the Sixers rebounded 70.3 percent of opposing misses, which would have been tied for eighth-best in the league.) Defensive rebounding is far from a one-person job, and Bona was far from the only culprit when it comes to the Sixers' underperformance on that front. But Bona does not provide enough value elsewhere to get away with not being a strong rebounder.
Bona is on the smaller side for a center; his 6-foot-10 listing is probably a tad bit generous and he only is listed at 235 pounds despite weighing in at 243 pounds at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine. Even if he bulks up moving forward, muscle will never be part of Bona's prowess inside. He will lean on length – with a wingspan of nearly 7-foot-4 – plus an outstanding combination of athleticism and motor. Bona is one of the more explosive bigs in the league right now and, if anything, he puts forth too much effort.
A wildly reckless closeout from Adem Bona costs the Sixers three points: pic.twitter.com/OPl5RfMD56
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) February 22, 2026
The Sixers shake their heads at some of Bona's mistakes, but he is capable of winning minutes with hustle plays and blocks alone. Can he ensure that, at the very least, defensive rebounding is not a weakness? He is a pretty strong offensive rebounder, which makes sense given his motor.
Adem Bona gave the Sixers a major jolt of energy in their win over the Warriors on Tuesday, scoring 10 points on five shots in a six-minute span during the first half, largely powered by offensive rebounding: pic.twitter.com/xaklb2GRwr
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) February 4, 2026
But there is more work to be done on the defensive end, where Bona's timing swatting shots is part of his package of skills that simply cannot be taught. Even if he continues to rack up fouls and get bitten by the occasional overeager contest, blocking shots the way Bona does and becoming a quality defensive rebounder would make him unquestionably deserving of backup center minutes in the NBA.
SIXERS FILM STUDIES
Jaylen Brown's strengths | Jaylen Brown's weaknesses
Anfernee Simons | Dean Wade | Ariel Hukporti
Playing with James benefits everybody on this roster, but Bona stands to gain almost as much as anybody from sharing the court with the NBA's all-time leading scorer, also a maestro of the pick-and-roll capable of making life easy for play finishers like Bona.
After two years of being a prime lob threat on a team without any good lob-throwers, Bona will now be able to screen and roll for one of the single best alley-oop passers of all time. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has preached simplicity when it comes to Bona's role; he should be focused on mastering just a few things.
If an athletic play finisher like Bona will ever be maximized, it is going to be playing alongside a brilliant floor general like James, whose pick-and-roll artistry has made a lot of bigs a lot of money over the years. But, just like when Paul Reed could not supplant DeAndre Jordan as Doc Rivers' backup center years ago because James Harden felt more security with the veteran than the younger, Bona has to inspire some sense of trust or confidence in James.
The answer to this question may be the only thing that matters when it comes to whether or not the Sixers are still leaning on Bona for rotation minutes once the league's February trade deadline passes. James will want to go into the biggest battles without having to worry about someone not looking with a passing lane open or wasting a possession by rushing into a moving screen. Can Bona answer the call?
SIXERS SIGN LEBRON JAMES
James' decision | Projecting Sixers' rotation | James' impact, on and off the court
