The Sixers have the most draft picks in this year’s NBA Draft with 7. Two 1st rounders and 5 2nd rounders. To put that into perspective, there were some NFL teams that had less picks than them, and there are seven rounds in the NFL. The Sixers are stacked with opportunities to rebuild their team with basically whoever they want, and they might even get a third top 10 pick. All those 2nd rounders could also be used (along with other players) to help trade up as well. Clearly they’re in a great situation going into this coming Thursday’s draft. But where did they get all these picks from? Here’s where they came from:
1st Round (3rd overall)
This was their lottery pick that they received for being a terrible team this past year. Despite having the 2nd worst record in the league, they still got the 3rd pick due to the Cavaliers beating the odds and getting the 1st pick after having just the 9th worst record. This will likely be used to take a guy like Andrew Wiggins or Dante Exum, or maybe to trade up to the top pick. Lots could happen here.
1st Round (10th overall)
The Sixers received this pick in the Jrue Holiday trade at last year’s draft. The Sixers traded Holiday and the draft rights to PG Pierre Jackson, who the Sixers drafted in the 2nd round of last year’s draft, to the Pelicans. The Sixers received this pick, which was a conditional 1st round pick (protected top 5), as well as C Nerlens Noel. As for how this trade has turned out, it’s hard to tell. Holiday averaged 14.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 7.9 APG in 34 games before suffering a stress fracture in his right tibia, which needed season-ending surgery. Jackson never played for the Pelicans, bouncing around the D-League and other countries. Noel didn’t play a game last year after he continued to recover from ACL surgery. But after another year, I have a feeling this trade will benefit the Sixers more.
2nd Round (32nd overall)
This is the 2nd round pick that the Sixers received for having the 2nd worst record in the league. Therefore, by the NBA rules, they received the 2nd pick in the 2nd round. Since it’s so high in the 2nd round, this is essentially another 2nd rounder. I would be fine with packaging this pick and another 2nd rounder to grab another 1st round pick, but that’s just speculation at this point.
2nd Round (39th overall)
The Sixers received this pick at the trade deadline this past year in the Spencer Hawes trade. The Sixers unloaded the overpaid, overrated center for Henry Sims, Earl Clark, and two 2nd round picks. This pick was one of those 2nd rounders. As a Sixer, Hawes was actually having the best season of his career, but he shot too much for a center and was inconsistent. After going to the Cavs, he increased his shooting percentage (45.1% to 46.8% overall and 39.9% to 44.8% from three), but saw a decrease in rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Sims turned into the best player the Sixers got at the deadline, becoming their starting center and showing a lot of promise. Clark was released shortly after the trade occurred, never playing for the Sixers.
2nd Round (47th overall)
This pick was bounced around a lot, starting with a trade all the way back in 2011 that gave the Nets the draft rights to MarShon Brooks from the Celtics. It was then traded twice on draft night last year. The first was from the Celtics to the Mavericks for the draft rights to Kelly Olynyk. Then the Sixers traded for the pick in exchange for the draft rights to PG Ricky Ledo, who the Sixers had just traded for on the same night from the Bucks. Talk about complicated, huh? Well, the Sixers aren’t really missing Ledo, who only averaged 3.0 minutes per game in 11 games for the Mavericks last year. Another job well done by the Sixers.
2nd Round (52nd overall)
This pick was originally owned by the Grizzlies, who traded it back in February along with Jeremy Pargo for D.J. Kennedy. Pargo was an average backup PG that actually ended up playing 14 games for the Sixers two years ago, and Kennedy only played in 2 NBA games in his career. As for how the Sixers actually got the pick, it was the other 2nd round pick they got in the Hawes trade.
2nd Round (54th overall)
This pick started in the hands of the Rockets, who traded Samuel Dalembert (hey, former Sixer!) and two 2nd round picks to the Bucks for Jon Brockman, Jon Leuer, Shaun Livingston, and the 12th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Well, neither team has any of the players anymore who involved in this trade, including that 12th pick, which was Jeremy Lamb (he was a part of the James Harden trade). Anyway, the Sixers got this pick by trading the draft rights to Nate Wolters to Milwaukee for the draft rights to Ledo (remember him?) and this pick.
So there it is, all seven picks. It’s crazy to see the path that many of these picks took to get to the Sixers, and it’s even crazier knowing that the Sixers might end up trading some of these picks or immediately trading the players they take. In five days, all will be clearer, but I have a feeling that at least one of these picks will change hands on draft night.
