Adem Bona hopes his strong rookie season will serve as a ‘launchpad’ with the Sixers

In the moment, Adem Bona believed he was doing a “pretty good job” defending Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 76ers’ April 3 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.

But the rookie big man eventually looked up at the scoreboard and caught a glimpse of Antetokounmpo’s gaudy stat line — he finished with 35 points, 17 rebounds, and 20 assists — and thought, “Oh … I guess I wasn’t doing as good as I thought I was doing.”

“How do I lock in and go to the next play?” said Bona, who was self-deprecating but not defeated while reflecting after that game. “I think I just do what I can do right now, and the rest is going to handle itself. … I just try to do the next right thing.”

The eye test — and advanced stats that keep track of individual defensive matchups — indicated that Bona did mostly hold his own against Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP and finalist for that award for the 2024-25 season. And on the opposite end of the floor that night, Bona totaled a career-high 28 points on 13-of-15 shooting, to go along with six rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.

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That outing was a prime example of the value of Bona’s extended playing time during the stretch run of an intriguing debut NBA season, which he hopes will propel him into his first full offseason and beyond.

“Playing consistent minutes every game, it helps boost your confidence,” Bona said. “… It’s kind of a launchpad into next year, getting ready to play with all the great players that we have on our team.”

Bona’s progress — as part of a strong rookie class with Jared McCain and Justin Edwards — was a rare positive during a dreadful, injury-plagued Sixers season. Bona was a second-round draft pick out of UCLA last summer and known as an energetic, rim-protecting big man. As a Sixer, he unleashed his athletic 6-foot-10, 235-pound frame for high-flying dunks and while blocking shots, which regularly were punctuated by a flex and scream. He scored in double figures in 11 of his final 15 games, and during that span averaged 13.7 points on 71.1% shooting, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks.

“He’s like a sponge,” said veteran Sixers big man Andre Drummond, who became an early mentor for Bona. “Anything that the coaches tell him, or I tell him, or any of the other vets tell him, he soaks it in, and then he tries to apply it. … With that tool, I think he’s going to be very successful in this league.

“His motor is higher than anybody I’ve seen in my time, and his want to be good is really going to take him far.”

Those on-court contributions came after several months of Bona refining several aspects of his game.

The player development staff worked on his shooting touch — he connected on 70.2% of his free throws during those final 15 games — with a goal of extending his range out to 15 feet and, eventually, the three-point line. Bona also built pick-and-roll chemistry with his guards such as McCain and Tyrese Maxey and newcomers Quentin Grimes, Jared Butler, and Lonnie Walker IV.

Bona aimed to leverage his explosiveness to get around defenders with the ball in his hands. And he learned screening techniques — such as “using his hands more, rather than running up on people and just banging them because he’s so physical,” assistant Rico Hines recently told The Inquirer — to try to prevent picking up unnecessary fouls on the offensive end.

“I would describe it as a learning process for myself,” Bona said when asked to reflect on his overall season.

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If the Sixers return to relative health next season, Bona said he is ready to bring that same motor — and more consistency — to a smaller role. Drummond, who has a $5 million player option for next season, said April 13 that his initial plan is to return to Philly. And one of the Sixers’ primary offseason questions is whether they can bring back fellow frontcourt player Guerschon Yabusele, who is an unrestricted free agent and sure to be coveted after his triumphant return to the NBA.

But Bona’s immediate goal is to maximize his first full NBA offseason. He already has peppered teammates with questions about how to best “attack” this period of the calendar, which he expects to spend in California along with his native Nigeria. Bona also said he would consider playing for his home country — or Turkey, which he most recently represented in the 2022 FIBA U20 European Championship — in international competition.

“The most important thing is to get some rest first,” Bona said. “Then, after that, you get right straight to business and work on your game or work on your weaknesses. Also, work on your strengths and work on what the team needs you to do.”

It’s unlikely that Bona will be able to stay out of the gym for long. Whenever Walker returned to the practice facility for an additional workout, for instance, he and Bona would “see each other every single night.”

That contributed to an impressive finish to Bona’s rookie season — even while guarding a two-time MVP putting up a monster stat line.

“He works terrifically hard, and his energy transfers onto the court, as well,” Walker said. “It’s contagious. It makes everyone else want to go. Every time he’s jumping for a rebound, or trying to get a block and you hear him talking, you hear him running, you hear him screaming.

“You’ve got to love players like that, who you know, each and every game, he’s going to give it 110%.”