July 14, 2026
Kamil Krzaczynski/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Labaron Philon Jr. has impressed in Summer League.
The 2026 Summer Sixers played their third game in Las Vegas on Tuesday, and as they squared off with some Houston Rockets youngsters the focus remained on their own standard roster members.
Rookie guard Labaron Philon Jr. kept on rolling, showing his aggression from the outset with back-to-back buckets and ending the first quarter with a step-back triple. Unfortunately for him, those were the only three baskets his team managed to score in the entire opening frame. That was the story of the night, as Philon submitted a decent showing and got zero support. It was a ghastly offensive showing from the rest of the Summer Sixers.
Beyond Philon's clear skill level and craft – from creative ball-handling and nifty pick-and-roll passing to long pull-up shooting – the 21-year-old's overall comfort level operating in this environment has stood out the most through three games. He has taken on significant offensive usage on a team without any proven NBA talent and largely done so in stride.
Meanwhile, soon-to-be second-year big Johni Broome continued to try establishing his three-point shot early. Broome has played very well in Las Vegas, but the one underwhelming aspect of his Summer League has been the long-range shooting. Of course, the sample is extremely small, and Broome is likely being instructed to continue hunting chances to get his shot off in live action. Broome was able to constantly assert himself in the Summer Sixers' first two games, but was largely unheard from on Tuesday.
A batch of additional notes and takeaways from the Summer Sixers' 90-64 loss on Tuesday:
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• The Sixers have taken an untraditional approach with their Exhibit 10 contract slots this summer. Typically, they have filled most of those slots immediately after the draft, securing undrafted players ahead of Summer League and getting them in the building with the goal of assigning them to the Delaware Blue Coats for the upcoming season in the G League. This time around, they have left all of those spots open but one.
• The one player already signed to an Exhibit 10 deal, with a place in Sixers training camp cemented, is Duke Miles. Miles, whose six-year collegiate career included stops at Troy, High Point, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, was one of the better players in the SEC last year, not only leading the conference in steals per game (2.6) but also shooting a conference-best 90.1 percent on free throws.
That Miles has had such an underwhelming Summer League could be qualified as an extremely minor disappointment. He has done little of note through three games now, even though his profile – a 24-year-old with extensive collegiate experience – would suggest he might have an inside track on impressing in this sort of setting.
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• VJ Edgecombe joined the broadcast of this game during the second quarter. Asked to name an off-court activity in Philadelphia he enjoyed during his rookie season, Edgecombe talked about... going to Villanova games. He did also point out that Villanova is technically not in Philadelphia.
• Edgecombe said he found out about team's acquisition of Jaylen Brown while he was getting a pedicure. He had missed calls from Sixers Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Jameer Nelson, plus a text asking to call him back. He was initially nervous something might be happening that sent him elsewhere, but was excited to learn about the deal.
While most people trying to process the new environment Brown is entering have focused on his fit alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, it is worth pondering how the presence of a high-usage, low-playmaking wing will impact Edgecombe as he enters his second NBA season. "I think one rock is enough for [all of] us," Edgecombe said.
• Nelson joined the broadcast at the start of the fourth quarter. He called Philon a "hooper," praising his adaptability within games and suggesting he will learn a lot from Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey. Nelson said the team has added "some really good pieces" in an effort to become deeper and more athletic due to trends around the league, and that the team is "more competitive" across every position on the roster now.
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• One of Houston's starters on Tuesday had a very brief stint with the Sixers. Michael Foster Jr. signed a two-way contract with the Sixers in 2022, logged 62 seconds in his NBA debut on Nov. 22 of that year and was waived on Nov. 23. Foster has not played in the NBA since.
• Another old friend on the Summer Rockets: Daishen Nix. A former five-star recruit, Nix went undrafted in 2021 and signed on with the Summer Sixers. He has played in 99 NBA games across four seasons with the Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
• The Sixers had a large contingent on hand for this game, which included Edgecombe, forwards Justin Edwards, Dominick Barlow and Dalen Terry, head coach Nick Nurse, Managing Partner Josh Harris plus a slew of executives, including Nelson and Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey:
Significant Sixers contingent here for this afternoon’s game, including owner Josh Harris pic.twitter.com/LEUhycVZ0i
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) July 14, 2026
Up next: The fourth and final game of the Sixers' initial slate in Las Vegas will be on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.
