Johni Broome starts his first NBA training camp on Saturday, but the former Auburn All-American already has been working to be ready for his rookie season, including matching up with former NBA MVP Joel Embiid at voluntary offseason workouts with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“He’s great,” Broome said on Friday. “He practiced the other day, and I had to guard him. He kind of scored a couple in a row. But that’s what you kind of expect. You play good defense, and he has better offense. That’s the type of player he is.

“But I’m glad that I’m going against him in practice and I’m going to have him on my side during the year because he’s a great person to learn from and he’s very open to talk to you about things that you need to improve on and things like that. So I think he’s becoming a good part of me being a rookie and somebody who I can learn from.”

Broome joined Philadelphia as the 35th pick in the 79th NBA Draft. Second-round selections aren’t guaranteed a spot on the regular-season roster. But Broome brings a rebounding presence to a team short on depth around the rim and trying to recover from a season wrecked by injuries.

A seven-season playoff run ended for Philadelphia in 2024-25 as the 76ers posted a 24-58 record. Embiid, a seven-time All-Star and the 2022-23 NBA MVP, played in only 19 games, and nine-time NBA All-Star Paul George missed half the schedule.

“I’ve been playing both four and five,” Broome said. “It’s kind of positionless. I got to rebound. I got to make shots. I got to play good defense. I got to defend ball screens wherever I’m out on the court. So I think it’s just more so, you know, just learning the offense at multiple positions and being able to play and be able to be efficient on the court.”

Broome got a taste of the NBA game with the 76ers teams in summer-league play.

Broome averaged 9.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocked shots in three Salt Lake City Summer League games. Then at the NBA 2K26 Summer League, Broome averaged 13.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals in four games in Las Vegas.

“Summer league was a good experience for me,” Broome said. “Just kind of getting used to playing in a format of the NBA. Obviously not the NBA yet, but it’s kind of similar. But it was kind of good playing with some of my teammates and just kind of getting used to it.”

During the 2024-25 college basketball season, Broome’s accolades included consensus first-team All-American, the SEC Player of the Year Award, the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player Award, The Sporting News National Player of the Year Award, the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award as he helped Auburn reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.

In his final season at Auburn, Broome averaged 18.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 blocked shots in 36 games. He led the SEC in rebounds and blocked shots. His 389 rebounds set a school single-season record, and Broome left the Tigers ranked second in rebounds, third in blocked shots and eighth in points in Auburn history.

But Broome already has seen he has a lot of work to do to be a contributor for the 76ers rather than a starter for the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s NBA Gatorade League affiliate.

“I think it’s a lot of areas I can grow in,” Broome said. “Just even being in better positioning, spacing the floor a little bit better — kind of just simple things — kind of relocating the spaces offensively, on defensive side. Getting in spots quicker because you have better players. You have better guys coming to the rim, you got to meet them a little bit better, make them make another extra pass, give an extra effort. Like, coach kind of preaches a lot is to make an extra effort to make the offense react one more time and have to pass it one more time.”

Philadelphia will open its preseason schedule against the New York Knicks on Oct. 2 and 4 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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