The NCAA Championship came to an end on Monday. Duke won. I’m sure many of you that actually watch college basketball with the same fervor that I do already know both of those facts. Now that the college basketball season is over — complete with another disappointing showing from the Villanova Wildcats, but I won’t dwell on that too much — the other part of my basketball fandom kicks into high gear.
No, not the NBA Playoffs, although I’m very excited about the possibility of “playoff Anthony Davis”. (With all due respect to the Oklahoma City Thunder and their fans, the Thunder aren’t winning the eighth seed. I said it on Twitter weeks ago, and I stand by it. Come at me, bro.) No, my excitement from now until June will be going through and dissecting tons of video online about what possibilities there are for my Philadelphia 76ers in the upcoming draft. There’s lots of them, folks, so bear with me.
The list of fresh collegiate faces that I want donning the Sixers red, white, and blue is pretty vast, but I’m pretty sure I’ve narrowed it down to five. I could do something like a “76 for the 76ers”-style presentation, but I do not have the mental where with all to do that. I’d lose my mind trying to come up with that many dudes I’d love to see in a Sixers jersey.
Most of the videos linked below are provided by the great folks over at Draft Express. (There’s only so much we can do here at Total Sports Live, folks. I’m sorry.) If you’re not following Draft Express at all, now would be the time to because they absolutely have the best to offer when it comes to future player analysis. What you’re getting below is my humble opinion as a Sixers fan for the last 30 years. Like the rest of you, I’m also pro-HINKIE, pro-the process, pro-the rebuild, and pro-the excitement that this franchise will fill us all with in the coming years.
If any of these guys are drafted by the 76ers, it will just make the mouth foaming or the drool that much more intense.
5. Mario Hezonja, G, Last Played for FC Barcelona of the ACB League in Spain
The following statement is completely fair, in my opinion. Hezonja is at #5 simply because I don’t know that much about him. There are YouTube videos of the kid, but from what little I’ve seen, Hezonja is pretty damn good. 6-foot-6 or so he has the body of your prototypical wing player in the NBA these days. He’s a smooth shooter (shot 40.2 percent for Barca) that comes off screens and picks very well and has a deceptive first step. The knock on Hezonja is that he tends to drift on defense, but with the Sixers and Brett Brown drilling the importance of defense into this kid’s head — not to mention Nerlens or Joel Embiid behind him for cover — that should not be too huge of an issue.
4. D’Angelo Russell, G, Ohio State University
Russell detractors will point to his last game against Arizona (3/19 field goals, nine points) and make a judgment based solely on that. He also had seven rebounds and six assists in that game, but that’s neither here nor there if you’ve made your decision. Russell is 19, so he can fit a little more into a frame that is already 6-foot-5 and about 190 pounds. He’s a good shooter, but there’s talk about him not having great shot selection. When you’re someone like me who loathes Russell Westbrook for that same issue, putting that guy on this Sixers team makes me pause and wonder if I’ll be bald from tearing my hair out by mid-season. However, the basketball IQ is there, and good God those handles. Russell can take just about anyone off the dribble — as this poor VCU guard learned the hard way. (Listen, if you get Brutus to put his hands on that weird shaped head, you done good.)
3. Emmanuel Mudiay, G, Last Played for Guangdong Southern Tigers in China
When someone says, “To hell with Larry Brown, I’m going to play in China,” they already have my attention. Brown, himself, has said that if his SMU Mustangs had Mudiay on the team this year, the bounce from the tournament would not have happened so suddenly. Agree to disagree, Larry. Mudiay is ten days older than D’Angelo Russell, so the intrigue is definitely there if the Sixers want to take a shot at a young guard they can mold for the next ten years. Mudiay is quicker in transition than Russell, finishes better at the rim, and has the potential to be an All-Star caliber defender at the point guard position. Here’s the problem with Mudiay. He cannot shoot … worth … a damn. It’s hard to envision Sam Hinkie drafting a guard in Mudiay who shoots almost as bad as Michael Carter-Williams.
2. Justise Winslow, F, Duke University
Quite possibly the best thing I’ve heard so far reading various draft boards on the internet came from Spike Eskin — who did his board for Liberty Ballers this past week.
“Wings mean rings.”
It’s funny because it is 100 percent true. The NBA has seen a paradigm shift to a more perimeter oriented game — whether the purists like it or not. Winslow is without a doubt the best wing in this draft, and he has the goods. He shoots 42 percent from three, can post up smaller players, and knows how to use his body all over the floor to get points. Winslow makes himself extra attractive to the Sixers because of his defense. He can defend three positions — and maybe four if you’re feeling frisky enough to play him at power forward. At Duke, he accounted for 2.5 defensive win shares and a defensive rating of 92.8 per 100 possessions. If the 76ers are building a team from the inside out with Nerlens and Joel Embiid, this is the wing player to continue that project with.
1. Frank Kaminsky, C, University of Wisconsin
(I’m kidding. Kaminsky is not in my top five, but it would be fun to know if Spike’s head exploded and/or his computer has a mysterious fist-shaped hole in the monitor.)
… But seriously…
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, F University of Kentucky
6-foot-11, 250 pounds. He’s just as polished offensively as Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, plays better defense, and shoots a way higher free throw percentage — which is why Towns is number one and Okafor is maybe sixth on my list. Oh, yeah, Towns is ALSO 19 and is already 6-foot-11, 250! This is my worry with the Sixers drafting Towns. If Towns is drafted, there is a serious chance that Nerlens is traded. There’s the slightest possibility that the 76ers would entertain playing Towns, Nerlens, and Embiid together, but I just don’t see that happening. I’m not mentally prepared for the possibility of a trade of Nerlens Noel because he’s played so well, but a Karl-Anthony Towns/Joel Embiid (if healthy) front court is something I can get behind for the next 10-15 years.
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