Labaron Philon Jr. is back in the draft conversation with a top-20 grade in ' 2026 NBA Draft guide, a jump that reflects how much his second season at Alabama changed the way evaluators view him. The guard, who declared for the 2026 NBA Draft after the season, helped drive an Alabama offense that finished with a top-three mark in the country.
That matters because Philon did more than post numbers in a fast, spaced attack. He grew into a much more comfortable on-ball player over the course of the season, and that shift is central to why he now looks like a possible starting point guard instead of just a secondary creator. The improvement showed in how he handled possessions, read the floor and kept pressure on defenses while Alabama played at pace.
Philon's rise has been steady for years. He grew up in Mobile, Ala., and starred at Baker High, where he won his classification's Player of the Year award as both a sophomore and junior. As a junior, he averaged 35 points and won Alabama's Mr. Basketball award. He later played for Team Thad on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he averaged 12 points and four assists, then moved to Link Academy for his final high school year and shared the floor with Tre Johnson, Jasper Johnson and other future high-major players.
At Link Academy, Philon and Tre Johnson pushed the team to the national semifinals at the Chipotle Nationals tournament, a reminder that the guard has long been comfortable against elite competition. He entered college as a consensus top-40 recruit, committed to Auburn during his junior season, then decommitted after Wes Flanigan left Auburn for Ole Miss to join Chris Beard's staff. Philon chose Kansas before his senior season, decommitted again after the final roster choices for the 2024-25 season, and eventually landed at Alabama the summer before his freshman year.
His freshman season offered the first college proof. Philon played the third-most minutes on Alabama's team, started 29 games and earned SEC All-Freshman honors before declaring for the 2025 NBA Draft and getting invited to the NBA Draft Combine. He was the final player to decide to return to college at the early-entry deadline, and that choice now looks especially important after the sophomore leap that followed.
The upside is real, but so are the questions. Philon's production was helped by Alabama's spacing and pace, and scouts still have to decide how much of his game will translate when the windows shrink and the defenders get bigger. His lack of strength, questionable frame and lack of true explosiveness leave some uncertainty around how he will finish at the rim and whether he can survive the same roles against NBA athletes. Still, the comparisons he draws are not empty ones: he has enough craft and control to evoke a Dennis Schröder-style guard who can start for several years and still fit best as a sixth man, while his three-level scoring package and defense give him a path to a Mike Conley-ish ceiling as a starting lead guard if everything clicks.
For now, the number that matters is the one in the draft guide. A top-20 grade puts Philon in the range where teams have to decide whether they see a real starting point guard or a high-end reserve with room to grow. The answer will determine where he lands in the 2026 NBA Draft.
