Philadelphia 76ers Are The Biggest Winners From Last Night’s Lottery
With Tuesday night’s draft lottery victory, the Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to add a franchise player on the roster and move towards being competitive.
Sam Hinkie’s dream has been realized.
During last night’s 2016 draft lottery, the Philadelphia 76ers came in with the best odds to win the lottery and walked away with the first overall pick, ending a three-year quest for the pick.
Many pundits credited the new regime for Philadelphia’s suddenly bright future, but all credit should go to Hinkie, who restored Philadelphia’s assets and placed them in a much stronger position than they were three seasons ago.
In winning the No. 1 overall pick, the 76ers will have a chance to select either Duke’s Brandon Ingram and LSU’s Ben Simmons. Simmons is a good athlete with elite passing and rebounding skills.
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On the other hand, Ingram is a 6-foot-9 forward with a sweet stroke from three-point range and defensive potential through the roof. Simmons’ skills are transcendent, but Ingram is probably a better fit as a floor spacer, opening up the floor for Philadelphia’s post players.
Speaking of Philadelphia’s group of big men, what should the Sixers do with Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and now, Joel Embiid, in place? Embiid is expected to play next season, giving the 76ers three big men who can’t stretch the floor and seem best at the center position.
There’s going to be a bit of a logjam in the frontcourt with Dario Saric also coming from overseas. With the arrival of the first pick, the Sixers should consider moving one of their centers on the roster to help solidify a position in the backcourt.
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While the first overall pick hung in the balance in the draft lottery, the 76ers already stood with two first round picks — one from the
and the other from the
. Both picks should be used to address a weak backcourt.
Philadelphia finished eighth in three-point attempts, but just 24th in three-point percentage. Prospects like UNLV’s Patrick McCaw, Florida State’s Malik Beasley, and Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon could all help improve Philadelphia’s shooting.
Or the Sixers could grab someone at the point guard position with one of those picks. Outside of pending free agent Ish Smith, the point guard position is barren in Philadelphia. Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis is undersized, but someone that could come in and provide value right away as a distributor.
Washington’s Dejounte Murray is rough around the edges, but has the size and driving ability to at least imitate former 76ers guard Tony Wroten.
Also, one of those late picks could be traded.
The Sixers, again, have several young players on the roster and could use a late first-round pick — highly valuable when you consider the salary cap is going up and the quest for cheap talent is going to be more difficult — to acquire a veteran to fill a role on their roster.
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The Sixers came away as one of the big winners in this draft for winning the No. 1 pick, but it was the pick they didn’t come away with that made headlines.
With the Los Angeles Lakers coming away with the second overall pick this year, the 76ers couldn’t capitalize on acquiring their pick this year, potentially coming away with two first-round picks in the top five.
However, the Sixers will get a chance to win that pick next season as it’s once again top-three protected. That gives Philadelphia another top draft pick in a the much stronger 2017 NBA draft.
The Sixers can hold on to that pick until next season, or, look at one of the rumored players to be on the market (Jimmy Butler) and try to put together an offer including that pick to accelerate their rebuild.
While the Sixers have other, smaller questions on the roster, they’ll get to figure out one of the bigger questions on the roster: getting a star talent. With winning the first overall pick, the Sixers will have a chance to add that player to the roster.
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The only question now is: Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons?