NEW YORK — Dailyn Swain posted a photo of the Philly skyline on his Instagram story last week.
The Texas wing was in town for a predraft workout with the Sixers and “the city was alive,” Swain recalled, because his visit coincided with Friday’s World Cup match between Brazil and Haiti at Lincoln Financial Field.
Swain has since joined several fellow first-round prospects at a luxury New York City hotel for the final stretch before being selected Tuesday night at Barclays Center. He is still among the possibilities to be chosen by the Sixers, who enter Tuesday with the 22nd overall pick in a loaded draft and new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey at the helm.
“I’m very emotional,” Swain said. “I know once I hear my name, it’s going to be a surreal feeling … I’m trying to enjoy the moment.”
This draft class is packed with top-level talent — AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer are all worthy of the No. 1 pick, experts say — as well as depth throughout the first round. That means interesting options should be available, at all position groups, if the Sixers remain at 22.
It is the first roster-building move for Gansey, whom the Sixers hired earlier this month to oversee daily front-office operations for a team that finished seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, stormed back to upset the Boston Celtics in the playoffs’ first round, then were swept by the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks.
Though Gansey joined the Sixers’ draft preparation late, he ran that process in his previous job as general manager for a Cleveland Cavaliers franchise that was scouting for this year’s 29th pick. When asked during his introductory news conference about his overall draft philosophy, Gansey said the Sixers will make their selection based on a combination of best player available and fit.
Mike Gansey will handle his first big decisions as Sixers president of basketball operations during Tuesday’s draft. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Sixers held in-person workouts in Philly last Tuesday and Friday. Versatile Santa Clara forward Allen Graves and Duke sharpshooter Isaiah Evans confirmed Monday that they were among the participants, while a source confirmed to The Inquirer that Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr., also was in attendance. Physical forwards Koa Peat of Arizona and Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s also were reportedly part of those workouts. Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz said Monday that he has had two interviews with the Sixers.
So Monday became a quest to mine the tiniest tidbits from those prospects in media scrums. Evans said his workout with the Sixers was with Swain, and that current Sixers VJ Edgecombe and Justin Edwards also were in the gym. Graves praised the Sixers’ “amazing” facilities in Camden. Stirtz said that, while watching the playoffs, he recognized how he could “release pressure” off standout guards Tyrese Maxey and Edgecombe with his outside shooting.
“I create space out there on the floor,” said Stirtz, who is projected to go a bit higher than 22nd. “Every team needs another ballhandler and shooter.”
Gansey kept some continuity within the Sixers’ front office — including the recently promoted Jameer Nelson — that has executed successful recent drafts. It picked Maxey 21st in 2020, and Jared McCain 16th and Adem Bona in the second round in 2024. Even Paul Reed, Isaiah Joe, and Julian Champagne, who have gone on to succeed with other playoff teams, were either selected in the second round or signed as an undrafted free agent. In 2023, the Sixers traded the 23rd overall pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for guard DeAnthony Melton, a key role player for two seasons when healthy.
“I’m excited to learn from them,” Gansey said of the remaining front office, “and, obviously, put my vision and put my imprint on the draft. … and try to get the best person and player for the Sixers.”
As of Monday night, the Sixers do not have a pick in Wednesday’s second round. Yet what they do Tuesday will help dictate how they approach free agency, which begins the evening of June 30. Starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr., sixth man Quentin Grimes, and reserve big man Andre Drummond are all unrestricted free agents. And the Sixers have limited financial flexibility with Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George on max contracts for multiple seasons.
Sixers guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe are among a long list of recent draft successes for a team that didn’t draft well historically. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
For the prospects assembled Monday in New York City, however, the wait for their NBA destination is almost over. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who spent his teenage years in Pennsauken and is projected to go somewhere in the middle of the first round, half-jokingly called these final hours “really, really awful.”
“I’m feeling emotion in the book,” he said Monday. “But I’m getting very impatient, in a way. I want to know where I’m going.”
The same likely could be said for the Sixers, now beginning the Gansey era with the 22nd overall pick.
MIAMI — Giannis Antetokounmpo wants more championships. So do the Miami Heat.
And the Heat finally have another superstar.
Ending a marathon watch for the next great Miami get, the Heat landed Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star — from the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in exchange for a massive haul of players and draft picks.
The terms, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move has yet to receive the required league approval: Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are heading to Miami for Wisconsin native Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis. Milwaukee also gets at least four picks, including the No. 13 selection that will be made in Tuesday night’s NBA draft.
It ends a wild back-and-forth in the final days of the saga, with the Bucks considering offers from both Miami and Boston for Antetokounmpo — who led Milwaukee to the 2021 NBA title, was on the NBA’s 75th anniversary list of its greatest players ever, is a nine-time All-NBA selection and is coming off an injury-shortened season where he averaged 27.6 points per game.
There has been no secret that this is what Miami has sought, because this is what Miami usually seeks. The Heat pulled off similar moves by landing Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 (helping lead to the 2006 NBA title) and by getting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade in 2010 (leading to four NBA Finals runs in four seasons together, along with the 2012 and 2013 NBA titles).
Now, it’s Antetokounmpo’s turn. At 31, the Heat clearly believe he still has many good years left — and it’s generally presumed that by making this deal they’ll give the Greek superstar a massive extension later this year.
The tale of the tape is no tale at all for Mike Gansey and Bob Myers. The last month-and-a-half has yielded about 60 minutes of on-the-record comments from the Sixers’ new personnel regime and about zero seconds of actual insight into their immediate plans for the roster.
Perhaps there is some gamesmanship involved. In a world where information is currency, the first goal is to keep your competition in the red. More likely, the Sixers realize that they need to be in read-and-react mode.
“These answers are not simple,” Myers said last month after the Sixers announced the hiring of Gansey as their new president of basketball operations. “You wake up in the middle of the night thinking about these things. And when you get fortunate enough to win, it’s all that work and toil that make it worth it.
Bob Myers, president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, says that right now the moves being made within the Sixers organization need to be methodical ones. Matt Rourke
“But there’s nothing more challenging than winning. You can’t buy championships. You have to go through it together. Each decision you make, each transaction you make, is hopefully moving in that direction. But that’s why you do it. That’s what makes it fun.”
The Sixers’ lack of clarity about their short-term direction has added a layer of intrigue to Tuesday night’s draft. Most years, the No. 22 pick wouldn’t be a major plot point in the trajectory of a roster. The last three players drafted at No. 22 overall have combined to play 116 games in their six NBA seasons. This is not the range where a team expects to draft a future playoff rotation player, let alone a star.
This year’s draft is better than most. Maybe not to the extent the experts once projected, especially given the lack of a clear No. 1 between BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, and Duke’s Cameron Boozer. But the draft is clearly deep, with Michigan’s Morez Johnson Jr. projected to go toward the back end of the Top 15, and for Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. and Washington’s Hannes Steinbach to go even later than that.
Johnson is exactly what the Sixers need at the wing right now, so much so that they would have to think long and hard if presented with an opportunity to move aggressively up the draft board.
Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. is a player who would fit the Sixers’ scheme. But would the team consider moving up to get him?Jeffrey T. Barnes
Cenac and Steinbach both have the potential to become such a player, though both could be gone by the time the Sixers pick at No. 22. More likely to be there is St. John’s wrecking ball Zuby Ejiofor, who would be perfect for the team the Sixers hope to become, at the expense of some ceiling.
The big question is the one that Gansey and Myers have both avoided thus far.
What is the timeline?
What is the three-year plan?
“I don’t look at it as a timeline,” Gansey said. “I just look at it like we have those four, and we [have] got to maximize those four. Obviously, VJ [Edgecombe] and Tyrese [Maxey] are younger, but Paul [George] and Joel [Embiid] can still play at a high level … Like, we gotta rely on those four, and obviously keep on the floor, and then just build around them.”
Your interpretation of that comment hinges on your interpretation of one word.
Build.
When Daryl Morey acquired a first-round pick from the Thunder as part of a package for second-year guard Jared McCain, he acknowledged that he did not make the trade with the thought that the Sixers would hold onto the pick long enough to use it. Even Morey, who once upon a time drafted Maxey at No. 21, understood that the No. 22 overall pick is typically more valuable as a trade chip than as a building block.
The one-two punch of Sixers guard VJ Edgecombe (left) and Tyrese Maxey is a duo that Mike Gansey and the Sixers can build around for the future.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
In 2022, the former Sixers president traded the No. 23 pick to the Grizzlies (in the form of David Roddy) for fifth-year guard De’Anthony Melton. Three years later, Melton signed as a free agent with Golden State, and Roddy ended up playing a few games with the Sixers on a 10-day contract after having been traded by the Grizzlies and later waived by the Hawks.
Is there a world where the Sixers “build” for next year rather than taking their chances at No. 22?
A lot could depend on what unfolds across the NBA over the next few weeks. We could be on the verge of an arms race that can create plenty of interesting opportunities for wise teams searching for value.
There’s a belief that Milwaukee star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (center) could be trade bait this offseason. Jeffrey Phelps
One superstar — the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo — is almost certain to be traded. A second — the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown — has generated enough smoke to conclude that a deal is possible. The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and the Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving are potentially in play. So are younger building blocks like the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III. After a relatively tepid couple of offseasons, the circus is rolling back into town.
All of this would be true even without the competitive pressures that should exacerbate and expedite this summer’s decision-making. As it happens, those pressures are at an all-time boil. The Knicks just rattled off one of the great postseason runs in NBA history. The Spurs and the Thunder are both well-positioned to consolidate their talent and make a major move.
Each is aware that a major move by the other could reduce them to the Harden-era, second-ran Rockets. Both would be wise to get ahead of the curve, like the Knicks did with OG Anunoby, and then Mikal Bridges, and then Karl-Anthony Towns. Both will be drafting ahead of the Sixers, the Thunder twice (at No. 12 and No. 17).
Zuby Ejiofor fits the mold of a player the Sixers could benefit from. If he’s still on the board with the No. 22 pick, the Sixers should strongly consider using their pick.Adam Hunger
There’s a sense that the Sixers will likely need to play it straight and to make the best of what is there at No. 22. In which case, we should consider some of the keywords that Gansey and Myers both used when describing their vision, as abstract as it was.
Character. Work ethic. Competitiveness. Accountability. Teamwork. Identity. Culture. Rebounding.
“I want fountains, not drains,” Gansey said.
Ejiofor checks off a lot of those boxes. He navigates the court like a linebacker in pass coverage. He rebounds and relocates and screens and drops like a man who just wants to win. He has the makings of a jump shot, the footwork of a seasoned pro, and the quick-twitch bounce of a guy who is more wing than big.
If he is there at No. 22, Gansey shouldn’t hesitate, whatever the mock drafts say.
The 76ers’ offseason is about to ramp up, with the NBA draft next week and free agency beginning at 6 p.m. on June 30.
These are the first opportunities for new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey to make roster decisions — within the constraints of having three players (Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Paul George) still on max contracts.
That means there is a lot to ponder and discuss. And you brought questions.
Let’s get to them.
Santa Clara’s Allen Graves could be one of the players the Sixers consider picking at No. 22 in next week’s draft.Nam Y. Huh
Q: From @davesoup on Bluesky: “Draft question. Biggest need? Best available? Chances they pick someone as good as [Jared] McCain?”
A: This is a great place to start. Based on Gansey’s vague comments at his introductory news conference, the Sixers will aim for a combination of both with the 22nd overall pick. It’s cliche, but also makes sense in that range. I’m perhaps most intrigued by the options at center and power forward — think Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. or Santa Clara’s Allen Graves — though a wing could make sense if the Sixers’ front office believes they are in danger of losing Kelly Oubre Jr. and/or Quentin Grimes in free agency. So could a guard — yes, again — if they can provide a three-point shooting boost.
The Sixers absolutely could find somebody as good as McCain, given Maxey went even lower at 21 in the bizarre COVID-impacted 2020 draft. But as recent drafts illustrate, picking here is always a crapshoot. Who the Sixers select next week, however, will likely help determine free agency priorities.
Q: From @marc_almond on X: “Any chance the Sixers trade up their pick, since the draft is very open at their current spot?”
A: There’s always a chance, especially if the front office falls in love with a specific prospect during this week’s workouts. But right now it feels more likely that a good option could slip to 22, rather than the Sixers aggressively trying to move up. Gansey’s general draft approach also still comes with some uncertainty. He ran the draft with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was not in the higher-ranking position that he holds with a new organization.
The Sixers and Joel Embiid are optimistic about his long-term health.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Q: From @cornerblight on Bluesky: “Do you think they are keeping Embiid?”
A: Never say never, given Luka Dončić was abruptly traded on a January Saturday night in the middle of his prime. But, putting it bluntly, Embiid’s contract is regarded as extremely difficult to trade given his age and injury history. If you were a fan of another team, would you be interested in trading for Embiid?
For now, the Sixers have to accept Embiid’s optimism that he and the medical/training staff have figured out how to manage his knee. He has no surgeries scheduled and plans to play more next season. That, of course, does not prevent the freak injuries like the oblique strain that kept him out for a month, or the ankle sprain and hip soreness that sidelined him for Game 2 of the playoff series against the New York Knicks, or the other random ailments like orbital fractures and Bell’s Palsy that have hampered postseason runs. One guarantee: He no longer has an appendix, and therefore will not need another emergency appendectomy.
The Sixers flashed what they could be with Embiid and George during that playoff comeback in the first round against the Boston Celtics. Gansey said he must operate (at least for now) as if he is building a roster with the core four of those three max players, plus VJ Edgecombe. And they all must cross their fingers for health, and that health leads to continuity.
Q: From @johnmlatimer on Bluesky: “I think the Spurs should have done the Two Tower thing more with Wemby [Victor Wembanyama] and [Luke] Kornet. And I think that would be a good option for Sixers to maximize and protect Embiid. Thoughts? Is [Adem] Bona that guy? If not him, who?
A: Solid observation. The Sixers have already dabbled in this, even going back to a preseason scrimmage in Delaware. And Bona has vocalized his eagerness to play in those lineups, as an additional way to get on the floor long-term.
The Sixers could use Bona’s athleticism, particularly as a defender, given Embiid clearly is not as mobile and vertical as the once-dominant player used to be. Bona’s limited offensive repertoire, in turn, is balanced by Embiid’s excellent skills for his size in the mid-post and perimeter. And that all helps fill the void at power forward.
Embiid did not play enough during the regular season to really experiment with this lineup for significant stretches. I’d imagine it is something Nick Nurse and the coaching staff are examining this summer.
Tyrese Maxey is a franchise cornerstone for a Sixers team trying to contend for a championship with three max contract players.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Q: From @realstuartl on X: “With Rich Paul as his agent, would Maxey really play the next few years in a rebuilding situation, if they did somehow get rid of Embiid and George?”
A: First, Maxey has never publicly expressed anything resembling disgruntlement or wanting out if the Sixers make the type of pivot you are suggesting.
I think it greatly helps the Sixers that Maxey legitimately believes in Edgecombe and has immediately established an on- and off-court connection and mentorship with him. I also think Maxey understands his unique situation: that he was drafted to an immediately competitive team with an MVP contender, instead of trudging through a rebuild like so many star-caliber young players do early in their careers. That now has made Maxey a tweener, of sorts, on this roster between Embiid/George and Edgecombe — and bridging that during a transitional period always felt like a possibility. Heck, Maxey has already been part of several iterations of this team, from Embiid-Ben Simmons, to Embiid-James Harden, to the most recent version.
Maxey, though, is also fiercely competitive. He also has already done right by the organization in waiting a year to sign his max contract, so that the Sixers could have a smaller cap hold on him and also sign George. In the current NBA landscape, partnerships between players and teams run their course more times than not (see Giannis Antetokounmpo). But right now, Maxey is a franchise cornerstone.
Q: From @jesuszoidberg on Bluesky: “In today’s NBA playoffs, is it possible to win a title if your best player is a post 30 year old big man, even not taking into the account the injuries?”
A: Just throwing this out there: A month ago, one could have asked if it was possible to win a title if that team’s best player was a small, ball-dominant guard who was a second-round draft pick and did not even make the All-NBA first-team this season.
(This is Jalen Brunson, of course.)
A team almost certainly needs a certified dude to win a championship. But getting the right players around that dude — whatever archetype they fill in regards to physical stature, skills, or intangibles — is the biggest key to building the correct team. And I do think that, under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement’s constraints, the star collecting method might be phasing out in place of compiling depth at the right spots. That is something Bob Myers mentioned during his news conference before the executive search that landed on Gansey.
Tyrese Maxey is a prime example of the caliber of player a team could snag in the early 20s of the NBA draft.
But Jameer Nelson, the 76ers’ newly promoted executive vice president of basketball operations, also was quick to note that Maxey is the exception, not the rule.
“We got lucky with the person,” Nelson recently said of Maxey, the All-NBA point guard whom the Sixers drafted 21st in 2020. “We got lucky with the player.”
The Sixers are in a similar spot this year, holding the No. 22 overall pick entering Tuesday’s first round. It has been a sped-up process for new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, who was formally introduced last week after spearheading the draft in his previous job as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ general manager.
To further illustrate the uncertainty that comes with selecting at this point in the draft, here’s a look back at pick Nos. 21 through 23 the last five years. It offers a collection of success stories, and players who have since fallen out of the league.
2025
21st pick: Will Riley, forward, Illinois
22nd pick: Drake Powell, wing, North Carolina
23rd pick: Asa Newell, forward, Georgia
Riley (10.3 points in 74 games) earned NBA All-Rookie votes this past season, as a surprise on a Washington Wizards team with a barrage of recent high draft picks. Powell (6.5 points in 63 games) was in the Nets’ rotation, which comes with the caveat that Brooklyn was not exactly interested in winning last season. Newell averaged 5.2 points in 44 games for the Hawks but also spent time in the G League during Atlanta’s surge in the second half of the regular season.
Yves Missi (right) has started 81 of 139 games in two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, averaging 7.5 points and 7.1 rebounds.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
2024
21st pick: Yves Missi, center, Baylor
22nd pick: DaRon Holmes, forward, Dayton
23rd pick: AJ Johnson, guard, Australia
Missi has started 81 of 139 games in two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, averaging 7.5 points and 7.1 rebounds. Holmes tore his Achilles tendon in his first summer league game as a Denver Nuggets rookie, then played in 25 games this past season following his recovery. Johnson has already become an NBA journeyman, playing for three teams (Milwaukee Bucks, Wizards, Dallas Mavericks) in two seasons.
The notable picks in this range from this year: Jaylon Tyson at 20th overall by the Cavaliers during Gansey’s tenure. And Kyshawn George, who is an intriguing, yet inconsistent wing for the Wizards.
Clowney started 60 games for the Nets this past season, averaging 12.3 points on poor shooting efficiency. Whitehead, a former national high school player of the year, was waived by the Nets before the 2025-26 season and spent time in the G League before joining the Memphis Grizzlies on a 10-day contract. Murray (5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds) was in the rotation for the upstart Trail Blazers, who made the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Christian Braun (right) won an NBA title with the Nuggets as a rookie.Mark J. Terrill
2022
21st pick: Christian Braun, guard, Kansas
22nd pick: Walker Kessler, center, Auburn
23rd pick: David Roddy, forward, Colorado State
That 23rd pick belonged to the Sixers and was used in the trade to acquire key two-way guard De’Anthony Melton. Braun (12 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists in 44 games in 2025-26) is a rotation player with the Nuggets, including as a rookie on their 2023 title team. Kessler, who joined the Utah Jazz in the Rudy Gobert blockbuster trade, had season-ending shoulder surgery in 2025-26 but is still regarded as a promising young big man (9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds in 201 career games).
Johnson was in the G League this past season following three stints with NBA teams, most recently when he averaged 10.6 points for the Nets in 2024-25. Jackson (6.7 points, 5.3 rebounds in 2025-26) was an Indiana Pacers reserve big man for parts of five seasons, before being sent to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Ivica Zubac trade. Garuba was last in the NBA in 2023-24, and is back in his hometown playing for EuroLeague power Real Madrid. He tore his Achilles tendon last month.
Two notable picks in this range in this draft: Jalen Johnson at No. 20, who is now a versatile All-Star and franchise cornerstone for the Hawks. And Quentin Grimes at No. 25, the Sixers’ guard who now enters unrestricted free agency following last summer’s messy restricted free agency.
Seth Friedman was watching the NBA Finals on Saturday night in Graduate Hospital when he heard a familiar refrain.
It came from Leon Rose, the mild-mannered architect of the New York Knicks. His team had just won its first title since 1973.
Rose, 65, was asked how he felt knowing he’d built a roster that had ended a 53-year-drought. The Knicks president shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and pivoted to his players.
He praised their brotherhood, their grit, their empathy. He talked about their care for one another, and their selflessness, and how it allowed them to reach new heights.
Friedman, sitting on his couch next to his wife, began to tear up.
“It sounded like he was talking to us,” he said, “back when we were 13 or 14 years old.”
The setting was vastly different. Instead of holding two-a-days for high schoolers, Rose was standing on a platform in San Antonio, Texas, with a sparkling trophy beside him.
But the message was nearly identical. Friedman listened to it himself when he played for Rose in the mid-2000s at his local Jewish community center.
“He literally preached that same mentality,” Friedman said. “That family mentality.”
Leon Rose coaching at the Katz JCC in 2005. Seth Friedman is pictured in the bottom row, second from the right.Photo courtesy of Katz JCC
For decades, the future Knicks president was a mainstay in his Cherry Hill basketball community. He played under head coach John Valore at Cherry Hill East from 1975 to 1979 and joined Valore’s staff in the early 1980s while studying atTemple’s law school.
He moved on to work as an assistant coach through the late 1980s at Rutgers-Camden, a short commute from his day job at the Camden County prosecutor’s office.
He’d leave collegiate coaching in 1988, but Rose would always find time for the sport, even as he ascended the ranks of the NBA. In the 1990s, while he transitioned to sports management, Rose often could be found playing pickup hoops at the Katz JCC in Cherry Hill.
By the mid 2000s, he’d assembled a Rolodex of star-studded clients, including Allen Iverson and LeBron James. But that didn’t keep him away from the gym. For the better part of a decade, Rose served as a volunteer coach at the Katz JCC, preparing teams to compete in the Maccabi Games.
The Knicks executive has achieved a lot since then. But those who know him best say he is the same understated guy who’d wear baggy sweatshirts and run his team through tap drills and sprints.
“He was Coach Leon,” Friedman said. “He was one of us. Even now, you see him down the Shore, and you’d never know that he’s the person that he is.”
New York Knicks Leon Rose (left) hugs guard Jalen Brunson (11) as they leave the court following a Game 6 win against the Pistons in the 2025 playoffs. Duane Burleson
‘A gym rat’
Valore met Rose in 1975 when he was coaching junior varsity at Cherry Hill East. The freshman was undersized compared to his teammates, but he played above his stature.
If there was a loose ball, the point guard would dive for it. If there was a charge, he would take it. Valore admired his toughness. So when he got the varsity job in 1976-77, he decided to bring Rose with him.
The sophomore made the most of his opportunity. Cherry Hill East was a relatively new program at the time and largely was viewed as a “doormat,” in Valore’s words. Rose helped change that, building an unselfish culture from the ground up.
He wasn’t a vocal leader, but he showed interpersonal skills that would serve him later on. The future NBA executive was direct and honest. He could have difficult conversations with teammates if he needed to about roles and behavior on and off the court.
Rose also set a standard through his style of play. Cherry Hill East was up against stiff competition in South Jersey from teams like Camden and Haddon Heights, which boasted players who were 6-foot-2, 6-3.
The point guard was unafraid to battle them.
“He was a player that had to compete harder and tougher than the person he competed against,” Valore said, “because he was 5-7, 5-8, 5-9. That shows you the toughness he had within him.”
Leon Rose at Cherry Hill East.Courtesy of John Valore
Cherry Hill East’s culture quickly translated into wins. When Rose arrived, the varsity team finished just above .500. By the time he graduated, it was one of the best teams in its conference.
But above all, Valore was most impressed by his pupil’s character. During a practice in 1979, the coach called his co-captain over. Valore’s wife, Joyce, had just given birth to their first child, J.C.
The coach wanted Rose to be the boy’s godfather.
“[Leon] was 17 years old,” he said, “and I saw everything I wanted to see. He was an exceptional person with relating to other people. He was something special.
“He went back to his dad and explained the situation, and his dad gave the thumbs-up. And the rest is history.”
After a few years studying and playing basketball at Dickinson College, Rose rejoined his high school team as an assistant coach in 1983. The 22-year-old was just as impactful on the bench as he’d been as a point guard.
Over Rose’s three seasons with Cherry Hill East, the program produced four Division I players. One of those four, Nick Katsikis, ended up contributing to Seton Hall’s run to the 1989 NCAA championship game.
Valore can see similarities in what Rose accomplished with the Knicks. When the agent was hired by James Dolan in 2020, the team was en route to its seventh straight losing season; “a doormat,” just like Cherry Hill East.
Then Rose came along, and everything changed.
“He was a gym rat,” Valore said. “He just loved the game.”
Leon Rose coaching for the Katz JCC in 2004. Ed Vernick is pictured on the far right.Photo courtesy of Katz JCC
From Maccabi gold to an NBA title
Ed Vernick moved from Philadelphia to South Jersey in the early 1980s, the same time Rose was coaching with Valore.
Unsurprisingly, the men became friends at the gym. Vernick was about to go on a trip to Ocean City and wanted a good place to work out. Rose overheard him talking, ripped off a piece of paper, and scribbled down an address.
Vernick had no idea who the young lawyer was, but he took him up on his suggestion. A few days later, while he was running on a treadmill in that Ocean City gym, he saw Rose walking by.
“He goes, ‘I just wanted to make sure you got here,’” Vernick said. “What a nice guy. I’m thinking, ‘Who does that?’ It was just one of those things that caught me.”
About two decades later, when Rose was starting to coach basketball at the Katz JCC, he asked Vernick to be his assistant. Together, they spent the summer of 2004 preparing Cherry Hill-area kids for the Maccabi Games, a youth athletic competition for Jewish athletes from all over the world.
Parents and players said Rose took this as seriously as the NBA Finals. He’d carefully craft his rosters, thinking hard about how each piece would fit.
Once the team was constructed, he’d spend July running them into the ground with many of the methods Valore used at Cherry Hill East: switch drills, sprints, tap drills.
Leon Rose coaching at the Katz JCC in 2005.Photo courtesy of Katz JCC
The week before the Games was by far the toughest. Players would be required to train twice a day and would arrive at the gym at 6:30 a.m. and return at 2 p.m.
“He got into us,” Friedman said. “But it got us ready. It got us prepared. It got us in shape. I hated it during it, but, looking back, those were memories I’ll never forget.”
This was a major time investment for one of the most high-powered agents in the NBA, but Rose was deeply involved. He continued to coach before and after his son, Sam, and daughter, Brooke, were eligible to play.
And he went far beyond what was expected of a volunteer. One year, Friedman said Rose took the team up to the Poconos for an exhibition game at Pine Forest Camp, which was known for its basketball program.
“He’s driving us up to play an exhibition game like it’s an NBA team,” Friedman said. “He didn’t have to do that as a coach. But he did whatever he could to get us prepped and ready to win a gold medal.”
About “80% of the team” came from Cherry Hill East, in Vernick’s estimation, and Rose often would be on the phone with Valore, asking about certain players.
Like his former coach, Rose gravitated toward toughness, and that style emanated from the teams he built. In 2004, South Jersey’s 16-and-under Maccabi team faced Washington, D.C., for the gold medal.
Leon Rose (in 2006) made his name as a superagent to the likes of Allen Iverson and LeBron James, but he did not flaunt that status to his young players. APRIL SAUL
It was a low-scoring game, one that came down to the buzzer. Washington was bigger and more talented, but Rose’s group challenged every bucket.
“I remember I could hear sneakers squeaking the whole game,” Vernick said, “and I just smiled. And I thought, ‘This is the way you play defense.’”
South Jersey fell, 42-40, but it won gold the following year in Minneapolis.
Rose spent six summers coaching at the JCC throughout the 2000s, winning two gold and two silver medals. He looked and acted like any other coach, donning Cherry Hill East basketball gear and sweatpants.
He rarely — if ever — talked about who he represented, or what he did for work, but the players occasionally got a glimpse.
When Friedman was a senior at Cherry Hill East, Rose arranged a surprise for his alma mater.
It was March 2010. The Cleveland Cavaliers were in town. After practice, their coach swung by to talk to the high school basketball team and answer any questions they might have.
It ended up being the coach who would lead the Knicks to a championship 16 years later.
“He had Mike Brown come over,” Valore said. “He was fantastic. Off the cuff, not scripted. He gave a wonderful speech to the kids.”
John Valore (left) and Zev Rose before a Knicks game in the early part of their 2026 playoff run.Photo courtesy of John Valore
Cherry Hill at the Garden
Rose and his family now live in New York, but they’re never too far from Cherry Hill. His 88-year-old father, Zev, still resides in the area, and is a regular at the Katz JCC.
Every once in a while, his son will send a limo to drive him and the 81-year-old Valore to Madison Square Garden. They were in the building for Game 4, sitting near the team president.
At first, it looked bleak for New York. The Knicks fell behind early and trailed by 29 points in the third quarter. But they came storming back in the fourth and completed the comeback on an OG Anunoby tip-in.
Join Gina Mizell and ESPN NBA draft expert Jeremy Woo for a special edition of Gameday Central as they break down the latest Sixers draft rumors, top prospects, and the key decisions facing Philadelphia this offseason. Watch here.
After a first-round series win over the Boston Celtics, the 76ers’ season ended with a sweep vs. the New York Knicks, which extended the team’s drought of conference finals appearances to 25 seasons.
To help get over their second-round hump, the Sixers, who finished the 2025-26 season with a 45-37 record, hired former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey as their new president of basketball operations. However, the team also has limited salary cap flexibility with three max contracts.
Ahead of the 2026-27 season, here’s where the Sixers rank in some way-too-early NBA power rankings …
The Athletic: No. 8
The Athletic placed teams within five different tiers. Tier 1: top contenders, Tier 2: in a good place, Tier 3: the bubble, Tier 4: not the tier to fear, and Tier 5: basement floor. The Sixers round out Tier 2, checking in at No. 8 behind the Minnesota Timberwolves (No. 7) and the Los Angeles Lakers (No. 6).
“The 76ers were the lone Eastern Conference playoff team that was outscored during the season,” Law Murray wrote. “And they looked like light work for the Celtics through four games of the quarterfinals. But All-NBA point guard Tyrese Maxey, All-Rookie shooting guard VJ Edgecombe, veteran small forward Paul George and former MVP center Joel Embiid put together a great week and overcame a 3-1 deficit.”
Murray added that “Gansey needs to figure out what to do about free agents Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond and Quentin Grimes while seeking to upgrade the power forward position.”
The New York Knicks (No. 1), San Antonio Spurs (No. 2), and Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 3) top The Athletic’s list.
Guard Quentin Grimes is among the Sixers’ free agents.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
ESPN: No. 12
ESPN has the Sixers ranked at No. 12, two spots above their previous ranking. They rank just below the No. 11 Indiana Pacers and the No. 10 Houston Rockets and ahead of the No. 13 Atlanta Hawks.
“With three max contracts on the books, the 76ers only have so much flexibility and will all but certainly be into the luxury tax if they just retain Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes, both unrestricted free agents this summer,” Tim Bontemps wrote.
Topping ESPN’s list are the Thunder (No. 1), the Spurs (No. 2), and the Knicks (No. 3).
Sporting News also has the Sixers 12th, below the Cleveland Cavaliers (No. 11) and the Houston Rockets (No. 10), and (again) just ahead of the Hawks.
“It’s impossible to predict what will happen with the Sixers because of the constant drama surrounding the team and the murky health status of Joel Embiid,” Stephen Noh wrote. “He had moments where he looked like his old self on offense, but it’s unreasonable to pencil him in for any more than half of the regular season games.
“Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and VJ Edgecombe are capable of picking up the slack when Embiid is missing. … The Sixers will be a solid team in the East, but they need depth.”
The familiar trio of the Knicks (No. 1), the Spurs (No. 2), and the Thunder (No. 3) top Sporting News’ rankings.
Joel Embiid (left) and Tyrese Maxey are on max contracts.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
FanSided: No. 18
FanSided had the Sixers ranked at No. 13 in its pre-playoffs ranking. After another second-round exit, they fell to the No. 18 ranking and into the outlet’s fifth tier: “teams that won’t tank but deep down might want to.”
Joining them in Tier 5 are the Charlotte Hornets (No. 16), the Indiana Pacers (No. 17), the Phoenix Suns (No. 19) and the Utah Jazz (No. 20).
“The 76ers financial situation is such a calamity, I can’t even detail it here” Oliver Fox wrote. “This team has to start thinking draft-first with building around Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe; it’s not The Process, but they need fresh talent.”
FanSided also has the Thunder (No. 1), Knicks (No. 2), and Spurs (No. 3) listed in its top tier.
Bleacher Report: No. 18
Bleacher Report placed the Sixers at No. 18, below the Los Angeles Clippers (No. 17) and the Toronto Raptors (No. 16) and ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers (No. 19).
“And though Embiid still has moments when he looks like the kind of player who can contend for MVPs and be the No. 1 option on a contender, his health remains one of the biggest question marks in the league,” Andy Bailey wrote.
“There may not be any teams willing to assume that question from Philadelphia, but the 76ers have to seriously consider moving Embiid and moving into an era solidly built around Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.”
The Knicks top the list, followed by the Spurs (No. 2) and the Thunder (No. 3).
At 10 a.m. Thursday, Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson will ride up Broadway through Manhattan’s “Canyon of Heroes,” showered with the same sort of ticker tape that fell upon Teddy Roosevelt, John Glenn, and Queen Elizabeth II.
If Brunson has any sense of loyalty, he’ll wear his Jalen Hurts jersey. He’s done it before.
Why not? After all, Brunson and Hurts are essentially the same guy. Soft-spoken leaders. Tireless workers. Kind-hearted humans.
And, after the Knicks’ five-game series win over the Spurs in the NBA Finals on Saturday, they are both unlikely champions.
On Jan. 18, 2023, three nights before the Eagles hosted the Giants in a wild-card playoff game, Brunson entered Madison Square Garden wearing a midnight green Eagles jersey with the No. “1″ on the front.
It read, “Hurts” on the back.
The athlete whose mirror image Brunson has become.
As they left college and began their pro careers, experts measured everything about them — everything, that is, except grit, determination, work ethic, and heart. That didn’t seem to matter.
What mattered was that Brunson was too short, too slow, didn’t shoot well enough, couldn’t defend. What mattered was that Hurts was too short, his arm was too weak, he couldn’t run a prostyle offense, he’d never won the Big Game.
Sure, they won as amateurs. But on the pro stage? Bah. These guys weren’t going to win anything.
Now, they can compare rings.
Roots
Brunson went to high school about an hour north of Chicago, but he spent his preteen years in South Jersey. Naturally, he developed a passion for the Eagles.
When he wore the Hurts jersey to MSG three years ago he was trolling the New York fans as much as he was supporting the Birds. Brunson, a social media virtuoso with a mischievous personality, delights in this sort of subtle jousting.
Brunson also is an unlikely NBA success story, in the manner and mold of Hurts.
Both were viewed as athletes who likely had reached their peak in college. Neither was considered a viable option to lead a team to a title.
Jalen Brunson said that Jalen Hurts (1) motivated him after beating the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX: “He just wants to win. So I commend him for that.”Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Who could know that, 3½ weeks after Brunson wore his jersey, Hurts would fall just three points short of winning Super Bowl LVII? Who could know that, two years later, Hurts would win Super Bowl LIX and the game’s Most Valuable Player award?
Did that inspire Brunson?
“Absolutely,” he told the New York Post after the Eagles beat the Chiefs for the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LIX. “Obviously, all the criticism about Jalen Hurts and him not being a champ. And he’s said the whole time that he doesn’t care about anything individual. He just wants to win. So I commend him for that.”
Who could know that, 3½ years after Brunson wore Hurts’ jersey, that Brunson would lead the Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years? Who could know that he would score 45 points in a Finals closeout game, tied with Michael Jordan for third-most all time?
Nobody. That’s who. That’s why their parallel ascent to the top of their games thrills and warms your heart.
Brunson was a two-time NCAA Tournament champion at Villanova who, as a junior, swept player of the year awards in 2018, after which he declared for the draft. Mistake? He wasn’t drafted until the second round, the 33rd overall pick, by the Mavericks, who, in 2022, let him escape to the Knicks via free agency. (Don’t give the Knicks a pass: In 2018, they drafted Kentucky bust Kevin Knox 24 slots ahead of Brunson).
The 2018 draft was remarkably fruitful. It produced two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who also won an NBA title last year. It produced six-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion Luka Dončić, for whom the Mavericks traded Trae Young and a first-round pick on draft night (then, insanely, traded again, to the Lakers, last year).
Luka went third in the draft. SGA went 11th.
However, eight years later, Brunson carries the greatest value of anyone in that draft. For that matter, Brunson is the greatest 33rd pick in league history.
Hurts might be the best 53rd pick in NFL history.
Jalen Hurts poses with the MVP and Lombardi trophies the day after winning Super Bowl LIX in 2025.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Winner, Part 2
Like Brunson, Hurts wins like he breathes.
He helped win a national title at Alabama as a sophomore starter but lost his starting job. After a final season with the Crimson Tide and early graduation, Hurts transferred to Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to the four-team College Football Playoff and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting. Still, like Brunson, Hurts didn’t fit the NFL quarterback mold and fell to the Eagles in the second round, a team that announced they considered him a long-term solution as Carson Wentz’s backup. By the end of his rookie season, Hurts had stolen Wentz’s job.
Hurts might not be the best second-round player in NFL in history, considering Brett Favre and Larry Allen were second-rounders. In this moment, he might not be the best 53rd overall pick; wideout Davante Adams went 53rd in 2014.
But Hurts is, inarguably, the best value in the 2020 draft. That included Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, CeeDee Lamb, and Justin Jefferson.
Those guys have two things in common:
They all were drafted at least 31 picks ahead of Hurts.
And none of those guys have rings.
Winner, Part 3
Brunson articulated the core trait that drives both of the Jalens when he said Hurts “just wants to win.”
Indeed, Hurts’ most consistent motto, often recited after ugly wins in which the Eagles’ passing game sputters, is: “Keep the main thing the main thing.”
This is how badly Brunson wants to win:
He left more than $100 million on the table when he signed a contract extension in 2024 instead of 2025, money that allowed the Knicks to pursue starters OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, Brunson’s chief wingmen in the Finals against the Spurs.
Brunson can recoup some of that money in his next deal, but he risked injury for two years on a lesser contract, all so he could win.
Mission accomplished.
Reality check
No matter how deep his love for Philly’s football team, and no matter how strong his admiration for Hurts, there’s no chance that Brunson on Thursday will recognize the kinship with the man who shares his name. After all, Brunson’s Knicks and their fans swept the Sixers out of the playoffs and swept team president Daryl Morey out of his job.
But no matter what Brunson wears Thursday morning as he rides down Broadway, he and Hurts will forever be linked as storybook athletes who bucked the measurables, ignored the analytics, and, in their quiet, determined way, put two big-shoulder cities on their own broad shoulders, quieted their critics, and walked away as ultimate winners.
Would Sixers owner Josh Harris have fired president Daryl Morey if the Knicks hadn’t rolled the Sixers?
Working big sporting events can be an exercise in frustration. The Olympics, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the World Series are objects of spectacle and celebration for a sports fan but can be vehicles of exclusion and futility for a sports writer.
They also can be veins of golden intel. Such was the case last week in New York.
Thanks to the vanity of the New Yorker in Chief, entering the arena last week was a protracted challenge. An NBA source with ties to the 76ers told me in the hours before Game 3, as we waited for President Trump to arrive:
“You know, if the Sixers had won a couple of games against the Knicks, no way Morey gets fired.”
That piqued my interest. The Knicks had swept the Sixers in the second round of the playoffs. Morey was fired two days later, news that shocked the NBA world.
Did the Knicks’ storybook run to the hoop-crazed city’s first title in 53 years make Morey’s career an unlikely casualty? Did the sweep cost Morey his job? Was it at least the final straw?
Apparently so.
The Knicks weren’t considered elite when they rolled the Sixers. By Game 3 of the Finals, however, they were playing great.
Folks were talking: Was Morey’s firing less warranted than it seemed at the time?
I was eager to leave Madison Square Garden and try to track down Morey himself, see what he’d say. He’s going to continue to live in Philadelphia, but, since he got fired, he’s been hanging out in New York, feeding his Broadway addiction and waiting for the unemployment checks to come in.
Then, a few hours later, the Knicks had lost Game 3, the Spurs seemed to have turned a corner, and the assertion lost its legs.
But only briefly.
Daryl Morey did some things well, but the Sixers were also hamstrung by some of his decisions. Matt Rourke
Genius dismissed
A computer scientist with an MBA from MIT, Morey’s moves might draw criticism but his intellect never has been in question. Twenty-one years ago he co-founded the annual analytics nerd-fest at MIT, the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, a stats-based Davos gathering of the smartest suits in the sports industry, designed to render obsolete knuckle-draggers like Doc Rivers and me.
Despite having never won a title, Morey is front-office royalty. As such, the NBA was rocked by Morey’s dismissal, especially coming, as it did, on the heels of such a dizzying postseason high.
The week before the sweep, the Sixers beat the arch rival Celtics in seven games to win their first-round series. Boston had held a 15-7 record in the teams’ playoff series and had won the last six; the last time the Sixers won was 1982. It was their first Game 7 win in 25 years. It was their first Game 7 road win in 44 years (the aforementioned 1982 series). It was the first time the Sixers won a series when trailing 3-1 in their last 18 tries, and the Celtics had won 32 times in a row when leading a series 3-1.
Euphoria barely describes the mood around the franchise after Tyrese Maxey dropped 30 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in that Game 7. Maxey was Morey’s first draft pick when he arrived in 2020.
Humiliation barely describes the mood around the franchise 10 days later. The Knicks won Game 1 in New York by 39 points. They won Game 4 in Philadelphia by 30 and, at one point, they led by 44. That wasn’t the worst of it. Xfinity Mobile Arena was inundated with Knicks fans for Game 3 and was predominantly pro-Knicks in Game 4.
Harris, a New Yorker for most of his adult life, was galled. More than anything else, according to the source, it was those two home losses and the Knicks fans’ takeover that cost Morey.
It didn‘t help, of course, that Morey traded popular shooter Jared McCain in February, after which McCain thrived in Oklahoma City. It also didn‘t help that, two years ago, Morey max-extended the contract of Joel Embiid and max-signed Paul George. Both have been injured and suspended since.
Both were bigger stars than anyone on New York’s team. Neither played well against the Knicks.
As it turned out, nobody would play well against the Knicks.
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks rolled the Sixers in a way that was humiliating for the team and the fan base. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Juggernaut
The Knicks’ sweep of the Sixers included wins three through six of 13 playoff wins in a row, the second-best streak in NBA history and just two fewer than the Warriors in 2017. Those Warriors had Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, Hall of Fame scorers who’d been to 12 All-Star Games between them.
Again, at the time of the Sixers series, nobody considered any of the Knicks on par with Steph or KD.
Then, the Knicks swept the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Then, they won Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio.
Then, after losing Game 3 at home, they executed a Finals-record 29-point comeback in Game 4.
Then, on Saturday, they won Game 5 and the title in San Antonio. Jalen Brunson proved himself the biggest star in the playoffs, capping his Finals average of 32.6 points with 45 in the closeout game, a record for a Knick in the Finals, tied with Michael Jordan for the third-most in a Finals closeout game.
The Knicks finished the playoffs with a point differential of plus-283, the biggest in NBA history. Of course, the Sixers contributed 89 of those positive points, and the Knicks played only one team from the superior Western Conference, but those arguments are thin gruel.
The 2025-26 Knicks were a powerhouse team: deep, talented, hungry, well-coached, and led by a bona fide, if unlikely, superstar.
That’s who beat the Sixers.
That’s who, according to an NBA source, ultimately cost Morey his job.
It’s new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey’s show now in Philly. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
So what?
I’ve always believed Morey to be a bit overrated as a team builder but I’ve always admired his innovation, his transparency, and intellectual capacity. These, I believe, burnished an image that was more impressive than the reality. He was, nevertheless, a very good basketball president.
Still, when a team with high expectations repeatedly fails to meet them, change is almost always good. Embiid just ate his way into wasting two more seasons. Paul George popped for PEDs. Both happened on Morey’s watch. Will it happen again under his replacement, Mike Gansey, who helped resurrect the Cavaliers after the LeBron James Era, Part 2? Will Gansey and his overseer, Bob Myers, the former Warriors president who runs all of Harris’ numerous sports franchises, keep the old guys from stealing more money?
Maybe a new sheriff in town who has no connection to either Embiid or George will serve as a catalyst for them to deliver more value for the combined $112 million they will make in the next season alone.
But maybe, had Harris known how humiliated his peers in Cleveland and San Antonio were going to be a month later, he wouldn’t have let go the man he’d introduced six years prior as “extraordinary,” an “innovator,” and a “visionary.”
