76ers' Poor Decision Making on Full Display in NBA Finals Game 1

In 2023, the Philadelphia 76ers waived Julian Champagnie to sign Mac McClung to a two-way contract.

At the time, it barely felt like anything newsworthy. Champagnie was a young two-way forward who had not carved out a real role in Philadelphia. McClung was a high-flying guard whose athleticism and dunk-contest appeal gave the Sixers a more recognizable name near All-Star weekend.

Three years later, that decision looks much different.

Champagnie is now playing real minutes in the NBA Finals for the San Antonio Spurs. McClung, for all his dunk-contest fame and G League scoring production, never became a meaningful contributor for the Sixers.

Champagnie has become exactly the kind of player Philadelphia has spent years trying to find: a big wing who can shoot, defend well enough, rebound, and stay on the floor in playoff settings.

His postseason run with San Antonio has been impressive. In Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Champagnie scored 20 points, hit six of his 10 attempts from three, and played 37 minutes in a series-clinching win. 

He followed that with another strong showing in Game 1 against the New York Knicks. Champagnie scored 16 points and came out firing, making five threes in the first half. The Spurs eventually lost, but his shooting helped give San Antonio early offensive life while Victor Wembanyama struggled on offense. 

That is the kind of playoff utility every team needs.

Champagnie is not a star. He is not someone who should be expected to create offense every possession or carry a lineup. But he has found a valuable role because his skill set fits the modern NBA. At 6-foot-7, he has enough size to play on the wing, enough shooting to keep defenses honest, and enough defensive ability to survive in important minutes.

McClung’s issue was never a lack of talent. He is an explosive athlete, a dynamic open-floor player, and a proven scorer at lower levels. His dunk-contest brilliance made him one of the most recognizable two-way players in basketball for a period of time. But the gap between being exciting and being useful in an NBA rotation is vast.

For smaller score-first guards, that gap is especially difficult to overcome. 

Modern NBA teams are not usually searching for undersized guards who need the ball, look first to score, and do not offer elite playmaking, high-level shooting gravity, or strong defensive value. A smaller guard has to be exceptional in at least one of those areas to stick. He either has to run an offense, bend defenses as a shooter, defend above his size, or create efficient advantages at a high level.

McClung never proved he could do that for Philadelphia.

Champagnie, on the other hand, developed into a cleaner NBA fit. Wings who can shoot and defend are always needed. They do not require a team to change their offense. They can play next to stars. They can space the floor, take open shots, and guard multiple matchups. That is why Champagnie is helping the Spurs in the Finals while Philadelphia is left looking back at what it gave away.

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Wes Dixon is a contributing writer to 76ersRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected].