Philadelphia 76ers: 5 Things We Learned During NBA Draft

Hinkie picks are smart picks

Although the Sixers seemed to try to get rid of their late first-round (24th overall and 26th overall) picks, they couldn’t find any good deals for them, and ended up having to keep them and use them themselves.

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There were many prospects on the board that had fallen quite far. One of the ones I wanted to see selected was Malachi Richardson, who was taken right out from under Philadelphia at 22 overall. Tyler Ulis was another option, but he has some injury issues that are scaring teams.

When the Sixers selected Timothe Luwawu at 24 and Furkan Korkmaz at 26, it was as if Sam Hinkie himself made those picks. It’s not like the players were hard ones to choose, or really “sleeper picks” but it was apparent that Colangelo knew what the team needed and went after them.

What we’re starting to see is that although Hinkie was highly criticized for his drafting by outside fans over the last several years, he did a good job. I was a longtime believer in his moves, and I also think that him and Bryan Colangelo are not that different. In fact, the last time Colangelo had a top overall pick, I think he did exactly what Sam Hinkie would have done.

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