UCLA Basketball: Adem Bona Drafted by Philadelphia 76ers with No. 41 Pick in Second Round

The Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year has found his NBA home!

Mar 13, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Adem Bona (3) dunks against the Oregon State Beavers during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Former two-year UCLA Bruins power forward/center Adem Bona has found his next NBA home. The 6-foot-10 big man has been selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 41 pick in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

The Sixers are targeting Adem Bona at 41, per source.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 27, 2024

When Bona was merely a freshman, he earned a starting berth on an upperclassman-loaded 2022-23 UCLA Bruins squad that finished with a 31-6 record (18-2 in the Pac-12) and made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen in that spring's March Madness run. Three of Bona's fellow Bruins starters on that squad were selected in the subsequent 2023 NBA Draft, led by eventual All-Rookie First Team small forward Jaime Jaquez, who was picked at No. 18 by the Miami Heat.

Across 33 contests in 2023-24 for the 16-17 (10-10 in the conference) Bruins, Bona averaged NCAA career bests of 12.4 points (on 58.8 percent shooting from the floor and 69.6 percent shooting from the foul line), 5.9 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals a night.

Bona is just the latest in a long, legendary line of Bruins to leap to the league. In the current NBA. At present, 12 other Bruins alums are rostered. Four of those UCLA products — Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, one-time Sixer Jrue Holiday, and Zach LaVine — have made All-Star teams. Each of those four has, in fact, made multiple All-Star berths. It's unfair to expect that kind of upside out of Bona, who projects, at best, to be a solid role player. But it will be exciting to see how performs this season nevertheless.

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