Sixers Snag #1 Overall Pick

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

As it turns out, when Dikembe Mutombo tweets something out, you listen:

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 #What pic.twitter.com/FDPgusa6t2

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 17, 2016

Hours before the ping pong balls were even drawn, the former Sixers big man made the mistake on social media of congratulating the team on receiving the #1 pick in the draft. Apparently, Mutombo is as good at predicting the future as he was at protecting the rim, because when all the cards were drawn, the Sixers did indeed wind up with the first overall selection. Hallelujah!

Fun conspiracy theories aside, this year’s lottery was very strange for the degree to which it stuck to the script. It was the first time under the current format that not a single team in the lottery moved up or down. With that in mind, it was certainly a very good year to have the worst overall record and top lottery odds. I don’t think anybody supporting the Sixers is upset now that the team didn’t sign a couple more veterans and push for 20-25 wins last season.

After enduring three seasons of being bashed by the mainstream media and close to 200 losses, Tuesday night represented sweet vindication for Sixers fans who stuck with the team through the most trying of times. The only sour part of the evening was the fact that former GM Sam Hinkie is no longer in the position to capitalize on The Process he put in place finally coming to fruition. In a way, the 2015-16 season was the embodiment of “no half measures” losing that Hinkie had pushed for since coming on board. It’s no coincidence, then, that this was the first year the lottery results panned out in Philadelphia’s favor.

Aside from their own draft pick, there were other Sixers draft considerations to consider Tuesday night. Ultimately unnecessary given Philadelphia’s final #1 slotting, the Sacramento swap right went unused with the Kings remaining at 8th overall.

Also, the 44.2% chance of the Lakers pick falling out of the top-3 and conveying to the Sixers did not come to pass. However, this isn’t even necessarily a bad thing for Philadelphia, as they still have that Lakers pick top-3 protected in 2017 in what is considered a stronger draft class. Plus, given the expected roster crunch with a hopefully healthy Joel Embiid taking the court, Dario Saric coming over, and the 24th and 26th overall picks joining the roster along with the first overall selection, it’s really not the worst thing to delay things by another year.

This draft now represents the first time the Sixers have had the first overall pick since selecting Allen Iverson in 1996. By all accounts, both Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram have the potential to make that same type of superstar-level impact. Now get ready for a full month of debating between the two. As far as endless sports talk debates go, that’s about as good as they get. Enjoy this feeling, Sixers fans. You’ve earned it.