Is Johni Broome Improving Or Simply Feasting On Summer League Competition?

Johni Broome turns 24 years old next week. The reality is that players of Broome’s age don’t have a lot of time to prove their worth in the NBA. When you’re an older draft pick, you either quickly assimilate to life in the association, or you’re quickly phased out. There will always be veterans available for at or near league-minimum prices that can round out a roster and play serviceable minutes in the regular season at the very least. Most teams will quickly move on from a recent draft pick who is approaching his mid 20s if that player is nothing more than a G Leaguer who occasionally sneaks his way into the bottom of their NBA rotation.

The cold reality for players like Broome who play (at least) four years of college basketball is that they’re not given as many chances in the NBA players who were drafted at 19 or 20.  That makes what was essentially a non-existent rookie season for Broome in the NBA to be that much more concerning. It’s also resulted in this year’s NBA Summer League being the beginning of a pivotal 2026-27 for Philadelphia’s second-round pick one year ago.  

Broome had 19 points and 13 rebounds this past Thursday against Detroit. He then posted 23 points and 11 boards on Saturday against Indiana, despite a disappointing fourth quarter vs. the Pacers. His combined plus/minus rating in the two games is a +18. The obvious takeaway here is this is exactly what Broome should be doing in these games, as should any player that’s playing in the NBA Summer League for the second time.

Time will tell if these are significant improvements for Broome or if he just isn’t an NBA player. Broome was a high-level achiever in college so the fact that he’s performing at a high level against similar competition shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise. Despite some good statistical performances, it should also be pointed out that Broome is 2-of-12 from the three-point line in two games so far in this year’s Summer League. For a player who lacks top-end athleticism, his offensive ability was going to have to be aided by some good outside shooting and that hasn’t looked good so far this summer for the second-year player out of Auburn.

So where does Broome go from here? Well, at the bare minimum, he’ll need to churn out more good performances this week as Summer League continues. Then the real test for Broome will come in training camp in September and the handful of preseason games Philadelphia will play in October. If he can crack the rotation for Philly early in the season after that, how is that going to change? Once the regular season starts and the games start counting for real, developing a 24-year-old recent second-round pick isn’t going to be a priority.

Broome’s time to show the Sixers’ coaching staff he belongs in the NBA is now and in September and October. Should he earn his way into a bench role for Philadelphia this season, perhaps the leash will get a little bit longer and he could perhaps stabilize himself as an eighth or ninth man in a rotation. We’ve all known about the Sixers’ struggles to rebound well and maybe being a good rebounder becomes the best path to playing time for Broome come the fall, especially if his jump shot never gets better.

Right now, it just feels like Broome is meeting the minimum standard of what he should be doing. But can at least some of it carry over into a regular role with the Sixers in 2026-27? The clock’s ticking.