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Draft Lottery Looms for Sixers

By Chris Reichert

eMar 13, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Andrew Wiggins (22) shoots a jumpshot during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round of the Big 12 Conference college basketball tournament at Sprint Center. Kansas won 77-70 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
eMar 13, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Andrew Wiggins (22) shoots a jumpshot during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round of the Big 12 Conference college basketball tournament at Sprint Center. Kansas won 77-70 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on Tuesday and Philadelphia 76ers’ fans should be on pins and needles the entire time. There is really only one outcome that the Philly faithful will be pleased with and that’s the No. 1 overall pick. You don’t witness a season of utter usefulness like the ones these fans just endeared to come home with the second pick — the first pick is the end all be all come Tuesday night.

Twitter went crazy Friday morning as the NBA Draft combine started and a picture of Andrew Wiggins‘ vertical leap was released showing off his ridiculous jumping ability. Wiggins did not attend the combine but somehow still stole the show.

Wiggins equals hope for a franchise that went through a complete rebuild very quickly, so anything less than him will be considered a disappointment. Lest we forget, the Sixers may have TWO lottery picks year as they own the New Orleans Pelicans’ pick from the Jrue Holiday trade (top-five protection on that pick). So let’s take a look at a best/worst case scenario regarding where these picks could land or not land for the Sixers come Tuesday night.

Per Tankathon.com Philly has a 55.8 percent chance of landing a top-3 pick and a 19.9 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick with the pick that they own themselves. Their second lottery pick comes from the Pelicans, who are slotted in the 10th spot right now if things go down exactly as the odds tell us they will. So in that scenario the Sixers get No. 2 and No. 10 — not bad, but not the best. The best thing that could happen is they win the draft lottery — leaving them with a best case scenario of picks No. 1 and No. 10.

Per DraftExpress that could net Philly Andrew Wiggins and Doug McDermott. So, what’s the worst-case scenario you ask? It’s bad, real bad — if you’re a Philly fan or part of their front office. The worst thing that could happen is that the pick they own could be knocked out of the top-three and they end up with the fourth pick as their first pick. That would be pretty bad considering the expectations coming in however it can get worse.

If the Pelicans were to be big winners in the draft lottery and move into the top three, then they would keep that pick (top-five protection) and Philly would have the ONE pick at No. 4, instead of TWO picks with perhaps the overall No. 1 (Wiggins) being one of them! The chances that the Pelicans get into the top-three are quite slim at only four percent, but hey like KG says, “anythiiiing is poooosssssiiiiibbbblllllleeeee”!!

This would be an all-out catastrophe for the city of Philadelphia and the whole rebuilding via tanking would be viewed in a completely different light. If this strategy works and they get a franchise guy, then the front office gets a pat on the back and they turn this thing around.

However, if they somehow come out of this draft with only one impact player and he’s not a franchise guy, then some people might be looking for new work and soon. The fortunes of Philly rests on ping-pong balls.