The Philadelphia 76ers have the luxury of picking twice during this year’s NBA Draft Lottery. They are of course counting on landing a top-tier talent with their third overall pick; likely the leftovers from Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embid. With their 10th overall pick the 76ers can get a bit more adventuresome and draft a bit more based on team need rather than what the draft board dictates.
When a team wins 34 games in a season and then follows that up with a 19 win performance as they did last season, it is far to say that the franchise is in full on rebuild mode. They are certainly set up nicely for this build as they have only $26.8 million in salary on the books for next season and technically have zero committed dollars for the 2014-15 season. Despite the massive amount of salary cap flexibility; luring a star to Philadelphia with it is going to be a challenge to say the least.
Building through the draft is what the 76ers have in mind and that is exactly what they are poised to do. The drafted a gem last year in Michael Carter-Williams and swung a deal to acquire Nerlens Noel; who although he has yet to suit up, the potential to be an impact player is there.
Biggest Draft Day Need:
As it stands right now the 76ers should be able to pencil Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young into the starting lineup come next season. If the club has faith in Noel making a full recovery and confidence in the second-year pro Tony Wroten being able to handle duties at the two-guard spot then that leaves some questions remaining around the small-forward spot. A player like Parker or Wiggins would fit that bill nicely.
If that need can be addressed via the third overall pick then the 76ers are likely going to focus on finding themselves a suitable replacement for Young as he represents a very valuable trade chip for the club moving forward. Unfortunately for the 76ers there isn’t a lot to choose from here for suitable power forwards.
It looks like Julius Randle coming out of Kentucky is going to be off the board by the time the tenth pick rolls around. If that is the case then it would likely leave Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Arizona’s Aaron Gordon as being the best of the remaining bunch. If for some reason Randle has slid down the board and happens to fall into the 76ers lap here they would be thankful and grab him as he is a more polished and more NBA-ready player than either McDermott or Gordon.
If Randle is gone, as it is expected, then I see Philadelphia turning their attention towards Gordon. Gordon lacks the polished offensive game that would allow him to be much of a factor from the start; however, he does bring intensity and ability to the defensive end which is a big selling feature in today’s NBA.
Gordon measured well in the scouting combine: 6’ 8.75” height with a 6’ 11.75” standing reach. To compliment the length Gordon brings a 39 inch vertical jump and a lean 5.1% body fat to the table. The hope for Gordon is that with more practise time and access to coaches year-round; that he will develop a consistent jump shot. He is a strong finisher around the basket due to his big hands, quick movements and good vertical; however, away from the hoop or in post-up situations he isn’t much of a threat.
The scuttlebut around the league is that Philadelphia is looking long and hard at Gordon here and many draft pundits are predicting this pick. I’m usually inclined to disagree as most so-called draft experts are merely perpetuating team designed myths and smokescreens. Having said that, this picks here makes sense for Philadelphia which is exactly the reason why it probably won’t play out this way.
An intriguing possibility is that the 76ers look to trade this pick to move back in the draft or out of the draft entirely, perhaps preferring to roll the dice on an unprotected draft pick coming back to them for next year. Of course for this to come to fruition a trade partner would need to be fairly enamoured with a prospect here at the ten spot and that might be a tough sell given the drop off in talent after about the eight spot. Perhaps their best hope of trading this pick might come if a team is really high on the former UCLA Bruin Zach Lavine or perhaps even Adreian Payne from Michigan State.