{"id":477411,"date":"2026-02-19T07:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/477411\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T07:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:41:08","slug":"philon-allen-trending-to-be-alabamas-next-nba-first-rounders-the-crimson-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/477411\/","title":{"rendered":"Philon, Allen trending to be Alabama\u2019s next NBA First Rounders \u2013 The Crimson White"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alabama<\/a> <\/p>\n

Alabama forward Amari Allen (#5) prepares to pass the ball against Auburn on Feb. 7, 2026. <\/p>\n

In May, Labaron Philon announced<\/a> he was removing his name from the NBA Draft and returning to Alabama for his sophomore season, taking a risk in an attempt to go from an early-second rounder to a lottery pick.<\/p>\n

Philon\u2019s decision has been a major success.<\/p>\n

The star guard averages 21.3 points to go along with nearly five assists per game. His 3-point percentage has improved drastically, climbing over eight percentage points while also seeing his attempts per game from beyond the arc rise to nearly six.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he tested in the draft, there were a few things they came back with: one was shooting,\u201d head coach Nate Oats said<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s proven he can shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s Sam Vecenie slotted the superstar guard at 13th overall on his 2026 Big Board<\/a>, putting Philon in perfect position to be the next lottery pick drafted out of Alabama.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Woo is not quite as high on Philon, dropping him three spots to 21st overall as just the seventh-best point guard on the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhilon is one of the shiftiest scorers in this class,\u201d Woo writes<\/a>. \u201cThe breadth of other options at his position makes Philon more of a candidate in the middle to late first round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popular destinations for Philon include the Miami Heat (Clutch Points<\/a>), Toronto Raptors (CBS<\/a>), Portland Trailblazers (Sports Illustrated<\/a>), and Chicago Bulls (Tankathon<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Labaron Philon isn\u2019t the only player in Tuscaloosa who might go in the first round \u2014 freshman Amari Allen has become a serious one-and-done candidate for the NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

Allen, who ranks second to Philon on the team in minutes per game, averages 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.<\/p>\n

What really stands out about Allen is his athleticism, allowing him flexibility in a positionless NBA. He\u2019s a great ball-handler and shoots over 37% from 3, allowing him to play both guard and forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAmari is all about winning,\u201d Oats said<\/a>. \u201cPeople in the NBA are interested in that. He\u2019s got really good size, skill and athleticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen is currently projected as a late-first to early-second round pick, similar to Philon last year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alabama forward Amari Allen (#5) prepares to pass the ball against Auburn on Feb. 7, 2026. In May,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-477411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}