After another year of tanking, the Sixers were rewarded with the third overall pick in the draft. If there’s one thing we know about Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie, it’s that he’s going to take the best player available. Because of this, what the Sixers do is going to entirely depend on how the first two selections go.
If Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor go number one and two, Philadelphia will almost surely choose between D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay. Russell is currently considered a better and safer prospect than Mudiay so there’s a great chance he would be the pick. Philadelphia has loaded up on bigs with their high picks in recent drafts, so a young guard with the scoring skills that Russell possesses would be welcomed into Philadelphia’s young stable.
However, we can’t completely rule out Mudiay as the pick here in this situation. By selecting Saric in the 2014 draft the Sixers showed they won’t shy away from taking unproven guys whom the public hasn’t really seen play yet. Mudiay is probably more of a “true” point guard than Russell is. Mudiay thrives in the pick-and-roll and is very athletic. However, his shot still needs a lot of work. He currently projects as a lock-down defender who is effective at attacking the basket.
The dark-horse pick in this case would be Justise Winslow. Sam Hinkle has shown an affinity for super athletic players with high ceilings and Winslow is an exact replica of that description. The Duke wing projects as a lock-down defender who excels in transition and is a force when it comes to attacking the basket. His shot could use some work, but he hit the three at a great (41.8 percent) clip in his lone season at Duke. I really doubt Winslow slips into the top three, but it’s still early. You never know who GM’s are going to fall in love with.
Let’s say things shake out differently, however. Let’s say Minnesota takes Towns and the Lakers pass on Okafor for Russell. This is not impossible; Okafor and Randle may not work together as a starting frontcourt. Besides, there are plenty of scouts who think Russell will be a better NBA player than Okafor. If Okafor slips to number three, he will probably be the selection, not Mudiay.
Again, Hinkle is going to take the best player that’s on the board. He showed that last season when taking both Joel Embiid and Dario Saric in the lottery after taking Nerlens Noel sixth overall just one year before. Philly is simply not at the point to start focusing on certain positions because they’re still so unsure of what they actually have. Embiid has star potential but he’s yet to play in the NBA and already has injury concerns. Dario Saric is still just an unproven talent as well. Noel looks like a great future defender but who knows what his actual ceiling is right now.
Right now, the focus in Philadelphia is still adding as much talent as possible and finding guys that they can build a championship-contending team around. Philly has so many future picks still owed to them and they still aren’t making a real effort to win yet. At least not for one more season. If Russell goes second and Okafor falls to number three, he will likely be the pick, and Philadelphia will spend another top selection on a post player.
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