Philadelphia 76ers Post-Draft Recap

The Philadelphia 76ers had a huge NBA Draft night. Here’s all that the night held.

With the conclusion of the 2016 NBA Draft the Philadelphia 76ers added three young players who have a chance of making an impact on the roster right away. With the 1^st overall pick, general manager Bryan Colangelo did not overthink the decision and drafted forward Ben Simmons. The 6-10 forward from LSU was seen by many as the best prospect in the draft and a player that the 76ers could not pass up on with his incredible court vision and ability to facilitate the ball on offense.

After being selected, Simmons had nothing but positive comments about the 76ers coaching and is looking forward to playing in Philadelphia. Simmons spoke after being selected saying, “I’m comfortable with the system, great coaches, great people, young team and I’m really looking forward to it”. Simmons seems to be a perfect fit for what the 76ers are looking for in young talent and it is no surprise that 76ers fans right now are excited to see him on the court this upcoming season.

After the 76ers selected Simmons and the Los Angeles Lakers selection of Brandon Ingram following, the rumors immediately began to pickup with the Boston Celtics on the clock and many thinking of idea of the 76ers swinging a trade for the #3 pick.

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The 76ers were not keeping any secrets about their pursuit of a second lottery pick and one proposal may have even included Nerlens Noel and Robert Covington in a package deal, according to reports.

With the Celtics deciding to make a selection, they elected to draft forward Jaylen Brown which seemed to be a surprising pick to many considering guards like Kris Dunn and Jamal Murray were on the board. Following the selection of Jaylen Brown, there seemed to be rumors regarding the 76ers with every pick, but to the surprise of many, the 76ers were not able to make a trade for another lottery pick and will go into the off-season with all of their big men, for now.

Soon after the Denver Nuggets selected Jamal Murray, the rumors came to a screeching halt and 76ers fans had to wait until their next two picks which were at No. 24 and No. 26. With the No. 24 pick, the 76ers selected Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, a guard/forward from France who has great athleticism and an ability to play solid defense.

What is great about Luwawu-Cabarrot is that he is versatile enough to play guard or forward and fits well next to Simmons and Joel Embiid. After waiting one pick later, the 76ers selected Furkan Korkmaz, an athletic guard from Turkey who has the ability to shoot from anywhere on the court. He can be a draft and stash player if he needs time to develop. Both of these players have versatile skills that are complementary to Simmons’s skill set and are athletes who can play off-ball and create space for their own shots.

Overall, Bryan Colangelo and the 76ers staff had a good first draft and were able to effectively fill some needs with three young prospects who each bring a unique skill set to the roster. Even though Colangelo was not able to work out a trade for another top lottery pick, he established himself as someone who will not force a trade simply to make a trade.

Next: 5 Things We Learned From The Draft

After last night’s draft, the Philadelphia 76ers took a step in the right direction with the selection of three athletic prospects and it will be exciting to see how they develop as the season progresses.