Why the Philadelphia 76ers should want the Lakers’ 2018 draft pick

While the Philadelphia 76ers could end up with a pick from the Sacramento Kings in 2019, they should hope to receive this year’s Lakers pick instead.

Following a dominant win at home against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Philadelphia 76ers have to feel pretty good. They’re now 10-7 despite having faced one of the toughest schedules in the NBA. Ben Simmons has been a revelation, Joel Embiid is staying on the court and Robert Covington got paid.

Their success has turned the microscope away from the injured Markelle Fultz, and that might be the scariest thing about Philadelphia — not that Simmons and Embiid aren’t even in their prime, but that Fultz hasn’t even hit one percent of his potential. They don’t necessarily need it, but more help is on the way for the Sixers’ two young stars.

One piece of help will be Fultz, no question. If they can get him back to the player he looked like at Washington, the future of the East may only be a question of health. But the ball doesn’t stop at just Fultz. The Sixers should get their hands on a lottery pick in one of the next two drafts, courtesy of trades with the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. Philadelphia may get to add another top-10 pick to this already fearsome group.

Let’s get those pick details out of the way. So, the Sixers will get the Lakers pick in 2018 if it lands at No. 1 or between 6-30. The Boston Celtics take the pick if it falls between 2-5. Whomever between Philadelphia and Boston does not get the Lakers pick, will have the Kings’ unprotected 2019 pick. This pick disparity already has the Process thinking about which pick it would prefer.

More from NBA Draft

• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Grading every NBA team’s highest draft pick in the last five years
• Meet Matas Buzelis, the NBA’s next great point-forward
• Predicting the top 5 rookies heading into the 2023–24 NBA season
• NBA Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year

While this is an example of the rich getting richer, the preference should be for the Lakers pick. There are a few reasons for this. First off, this draft looks much stronger than next year’s at just about every spot in the lottery. A lot can change in a year, but even if the Sixers are selecting in that 6-10 range, the projected talent for 2018 is much stronger than 2019 in that range. As of Thanksgiving, the Lakers would yield the Sixers the 9th overall pick.

So even though the Sixers could theoretically have a top-3 pick from Sacramento in 2019, a weaker draft class and lottery reform make 2018 more intriguing. Though the lottery odds will shrink, meaning more teams have shots at top-five picks, it’s still a lottery. It’s still luck. As of right now, the Sixers seem poised to have a chance to select a better prospect this year.

And then there’s one more final piece of the puzzle. While the Celtics could always walk away with say the No. 1 pick in 2019, Boston not getting to take a top-5 pick in 2018 is a win for the Process too. This might be the most important factor for the Sixers, as Boston seems to be their biggest long-term threat in the East. Not to mention, the young Kings could get better next year.

Next: 2018 NBA Draft Big Board - Mid-November

At this point — and the Sixers would still have to nail the pick, mind you — this extra prospect is just gravy for Philadelphia. But if they can add a solid young player in 2018 and see the Celtics miss out on Marvin Bagley III and company, that may be the best outcome.