Philadelphia 76ers Should Draft Denzel Valentine

Denzel Valentine is a good role player the Philadelphia 76ers can get with a late first round pick.

With most NBA draft coverage involving the Philadelphia 76ers usually involves what prospects would be best for their own pick or the pick they could receive from the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s easy to forget that the Sixers own the rights to Miami Heat’s pick at 24 and Oklahoma City Thunder’s pick at 26. The 76ers really don’t need to enter next season with four rookies and combining the 24th and 26th pick to move up into the teens seems like a realistic scenario, and the senior from Michigan State Denzel Valentine could be a good target.

Valentine is 22 years old, can play shooting guard or small forward, has a height of 6’6”, weights 223 pounds, has a wingspan of 6’10”, and you can learn more about his life from Josh Thall’s article about his personal connection to Michigan State. Over his four year career at MSU he averaged 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, but averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.8 assists his final season with MSU. Valentine’s biggest skill sets are his shooting, rebounding, and passing. Valentine would instantly become one of the Sixers’ best three point shooters, with field goal percentages of 41 and 44 percent his past two seasons.

This video does a great job of showing his strengths and Chris Stone’s scouting report for Valentine gives a detailed perspective of his pros and cons. It’s easy to imagine Valentine fitting in an offense that relies on Joel Embiid or Jahlil Okafor scoring in the post. Valentine’s shooting would give more space for Embiid or Okafor to operate and his passing would allow Embiid or Okafor to get good post position and expect a good pass from someone other than the point guard. Valentine’s ability to rebound with his ability to pass would increase the Sixers’ fast break opportunities.

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With draftexpress.com and nbadraft.net having him ranked 17th and si.com 15th on their draft boards, there is a very good reason why a player with Valentine’s shooting and passing is considered a mid first round pick by most draft experts, and low upside is that reason. As a 22 year-old college senior, Valentine naturally has less time to improve than 18 and 19 year old freshmen Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons, but Valentine’s lack of athleticism, is a far bigger hurdle that will likely keep him from being a starter in the NBA. Whether you’re watching a game Valentine is playing in or highlights of him on YouTube, Valentine is noticeably slow. He seems so un-athletic, that I have trouble seeing he how gets by any shooting guard or small forward guarding him on offense or stay in front of anyone he is covering on defense in the NBA.

If the Sixers were in a similar position to the pre-Sam Hinkie era of the team, and I was writing this in the middle of a playoffs series with the Sixers recently losing a game to the Cleveland Cavaliers by at least 15 points and about to be sweep in the series as they fail to move past the first round for the third year in a row, I probably wouldn’t draft Valentine. In this scenario, the Sixers have a single pick in the first round and it would be 17th or 18th, so I would still try to draft a player that I believe has a higher chance of becoming a starter than Valentine. But the real Sixers should be able to draft a high upside player or players with their own pick or the Lakers’ pick, so they can afford to draft a player that maxes out as a good player off the bench.

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I need to do more research on the other mid-to-late first round picks before I’m 100 percent comfortable trading the Heat and Thunder picks to get Valentine, but if he drops to 24; Valentine could be a great pick up for the Sixers.