With the 3rd pick in this year’s NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers have an interesting, yet easily fixed dilemma.
Ideally, the 76ers would have wanted to nab the top spot in this year’s draft but dropping in at #3 overall isn’t such a bad fit either. The top two picks in the draft are, almost undoubtedly, going to be Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, not necessarily in that order. Both players are true big men capable of becoming the #1 overall pick and becoming the foundation for a team’s success in the future.
Fortunately for the 76ers, they already have a couple big men with the same kind of potential in Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid.
The need that the 76ers have is at the guard position, where they lack game changing talent they can build upon. The last guards that they have selected in the draft that have been even semi-successful for them have been Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, and Michael Carter-Williams, although there are still a few picks that we have yet to see make an impact on the roster (a.k.a Pierre Jackson–injured and Elfrid Payton–traded). Unfortunately, none of the above remain on the roster today, except Pierre Jackson.
Luckily for the 76ers, there is a guard in this year’s draft that has the potential to be that impact player.
With two solid big men almost guaranteed to be the top picks in the draft, the 76ers may luck out with the #3 overall selection as they may now have the chance to acquire the top guard in the draft in D’Angelo Russell. Russell is a smooth, combo-scoring guard out of Ohio State, who is known in NBA circles as the hidden gem of the draft behind Karl Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor. Russell does not possess explosive athletic ability but he is a very smooth ball handler, a versatile scorer, and an adept passer for his age and position; all of the exact skills that the 76ers sorely need in their rotation. With their current spot in the draft, the 76ers have a legitimate chance of obtaining exactly what they need to complete their rebuilding process.
On the off-chance that D’Angelo Russell is taken in the top two picks of the draft, which would be a huge disappointment to the 76ers (but still unsurprising to the league), the team may have a chance to pick up another young talented big man in either Okafor or Towns; neither of which are projected to mesh well with the 76ers style of play.
However, big men do not come often and having a chance to snag one high in the draft should not cause GM Sam Hinkie lose any sleep, whether he has his big men of the future or not. Overall, it is definitely safe to say that the 76ers are going to acquire at least one of three highly talented players in the upcoming draft, barring any freak decisions involving obscure trades.
Sam Hinkie’s plan for the 76ers rebuilding process seems to finally have an end in sight. Although, the young team will need every ounce of Brett Brown’s coaching expertise to morph all their talent into actual ability, the 76ers future seems very bright at this point with all signs pointing towards an upward trajectory.
Besides the draft, the 76ers will also have plenty of cap space to pursue a veteran player that could provide leadership and experience at key positions in this year’s free agency. Depth at both forward spots and the center position come to mind as viable needs for the team to address via free agency but, for all intensive purposes, this much is for sure.
At this point, no other 76ers draft pick or transaction will be deemed more relevant or important than their third overall draft selection on June 25th.
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