Brandon Ingram and Kris Dunn Should Be The Goal For The 76ers
By Jaylen Young
In the best case draft for the Philadelphia 76ers, the Sixers 2016 NBA draft yields picks at one and four. Best case scenario means Brandon Ingram and Kris Dunn
The Philadelphia 76ers currently own a top three protected pick in the 2016 NBA Draft via the Los Angeles Lakers. With this pick and the 76ers own top four pick, there are many different combinations of players they can possibly choose. In my opinion, the combination of players that the 76ers should strive to walk out of the draft with is Duke University’s Brandon Ingram and Providence’s Kris Dunn.
While there are other enticing combinations, Ingram and Dunn seem like the best options for the future. This duo have two of the highest ceilings in the draft while excelling at the positions the 76ers are in need of most. To put the cherry on top, both players also would fit in perfectly with the players already on the roster.
Kris Dunn:
The 76ers have not had a suitable point guard of the future since Jrue Holiday and Dunn has a great chance to be that guy. Michael Carter- Williams, despite earning the Kia Rookie of the year for his 2013-2014 effort, was close but not quite the point guard this team needs going forward. For a team with three high profile big men, I can’t think of many young point guards better to run with those guys than Dunn. Dunn has almost everything you could want out of the modern NBA point guard. He’s a blur in the open court standing at 6’4 with a 6’9 wingspan. With his physical tools he can defend NBA level point guards and shooting guards. He is very unselfish but can fill up the scoring column if need be.
If you want a point guard who is tall, long, strong, fast, clutch, and unselfish with a great vertical leap, leadership abilities, defensive instincts, heart, motor, and a sense of when to pass and shoot, then Dunn is your guy. I could go on and on all day about what Dunn would bring to the team but what’s most important is that he is a point guard that is a great kick out passer to shooters, pick and roll passer, and a player who would have no problem feeding the 76ers potentially superstar bigs the ball. Dunn would elevate his teammates from day one.
Brandon Ingram:
Just like the point guard position, the 76ers have not had a notable wing player since Andre Iguodala. If the 76ers are able to get their hands on Ingram, they’d find a player who has the potential to be much better than Iguodala ever was. I’ve been saying Ingram is the best prospect in this draft for a while now and while I caught a lot of flak for it at first, even major scouting sites like draftexpress.com have started to agree with me by slotting him as the number one prospect on their site in recent weeks. If every prospect on the 76ers reached their full potential I think Ingram would be right there with Joel Embiid with Jahlil Okafor slightly behind both. That’s how good I think Ingram can be.
At full potential, Ingram would be an outright superstar who would bring elite shooting, scoring, and defense. I think Ingram can be every bit of a scorer as Kevin Durant is but one key difference I noticed is that Ingram is much more unselfish with the ball than Durant was at the same age.
Finding a player who creates mismatches and is virtually unstoppable is what the process is all about and with Okafor, Embiid, and Ingram the 76ers would have three of those type of players. The beauty of it is that they should all fit together because all of them have shown to be able to shoot from at least mid range with two of them showing three point range. The spacing should be just fine with those three in the same lineup. Dunn, Ingram, Okafor, and Embiid are four guys that are unselfish but can also take over a game with their scoring.
On the defensive side, having Dunn, Ingram, and Embiid would more than cover up for Okafor’s defensive deficiencies. While I think Okafor is a better defender than he gets credit for, the reason he looked so bad defensively is not only because he was a rookie who wasn’t the quickest laterally, but because he was surrounded mostly by wings and guards that couldn’t play defense at all. If defenders get to the rim at will and Okafor is the last line of defense then of course it will make him look worse.
With Dunn and Ingram on the perimeter it would be hard for perimeter players to get past them and if they did they would meet 7’2 Embiid at the rim. After a few years of these players playing together, the 76ers could be a top three defensive and offensive team in no time. Drafting Dunn and Ingram would be the glue that brings all of the loose strings of the team together and would help the 76ers contend.
Next: Breaking Loose the Myth of Pre-Hinkie Philadelphia 76ers Mediocrity
While this year has been the darkest in the Sam Hinkie era, next season should be the brightest. Adding four guys like Dunn, Ingram, Dario Saric, and a healthy Embiid to the mix should be a huge boost and that doesn’t even include any possible free agent signings. A team of Dunn, Ingram, Saric, Embiid, Okafor, and Nerlens Noel is bound to go places. Not only would the 76ers potentially have the best starting lineup in the league if everything pans out, but they’d have a killer bench as well led by Saric and Noel.