June 23, 2016
Well, this is what we’ve been waiting for. If the NBA Lottery has been the Sixers’ Super Bowl the past three years, tonight’s NBA Draft is their long-awaited victory parade. Here is my best guess at how the night shakes out for Bryan Colangelo and co. in the front office:
• Mock draft 1.0
• Mock draft 2.0
• Mock draft 3.0
• Mock draft 4.0
1-for-1.
Trade! Andy Katz will be telling you all the deets on the broadcast, approximately 15 minutes after Woj spills them on Twitter.
Basically, do you think that at least one of Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel isn’t a Sixer by the end of the night? It’s close, but for me, Stauskas the answer is yes, especially looking at all of the teams that don’t seem all that interested in making a lottery pick:
Celtics (#3), Suns (#4), Wolves (#5), Pelicans (#6), Nuggets (#7), Kings (#8) all shopping their lottery picks. https://t.co/MsJjLX78ls
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) June 21, 2016
Then it comes down to the trade partner, compensation, and the pick. I won’t predict the package that the Sixers ship out, only that New Orleans is the trade partner and Brown is the player they’ll select. Colangelo mentioned that there are six or seven players the Sixers like, and if that’s true, Brown is probably one of them. He worked out for them individually and appeared to shoot the ball pretty well (albeit in a 1-on-0 setting).
Brown has an extremely risky profile (bad shooter, poor feel for the game) but his ceiling is also pretty high. I’m probably slightly more optimistic about him that most.
Could Boston be the trade partner and Kris Dunn be the target? Of course. The point is, with all of the optionality in terms of trade partners and the Sixers’ frontcourt problem, my guess is that a deal gets done. Mind you, whether that deal should get done is an entirely different question.
Pick a wing, any wing. Maybe we see the efficient Malik Beasley from Florida State. Maybe we see Sixers Beat favorite Patrick McCaw. Maybe Denzel Valentine’s injury concerns drop him all the way here. Maybe the Sixers go point guard and take Tyler Ulis or Demetrius Jackson.
I’ll go with the guy who initially wouldn’t have to leave his college apartment to work out at the team’s practice facility.
Especially because of the projected trade, I’ll say that the Sixers decide to go for a draft-and-stash option. Yabusele has the potential to be a decent stretch big down the road:
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
