The Philadelphia 76ers Will Get Richer in 2017
By Max Holm
After finally assembling a young core that will play together, two potential lottery picks await in 2017 for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Bryan Colangelo-era is off to a terrific start for the Philadelphia 76ers thanks to patience in free agency, the drafting of Ben Simmons, and the arrival of Dario Saric. With a plethora of underrated gems like Robert Covington and an abundance of former lottery picks, head coach Brett Brown and his staff will have their work cut out for them. They’ll need to find ample playing time to discover how much talent they have, while of course trying to figure out the infamous front court log jam.
A trade or two seems inevitable, though when that will happen remains unclear. But should most of the core be around for the 2017-18 season, Brown will have an even more exaggerated version of the dilemma he has now regarding young talent and playing time. And again, it will not be a bad one to have.
Looking at 2017 @NBADraft, 76ers may have two more Top 10 picks in a deep draft. Sam Hinkie looking better & better.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) July 21, 2016
That’s right. While the Philly faithful were hoping for “1-4-24-26” on draft night, only to come up empty, that Lakers top-3 protected pick is looking really valuable in a year’s time. The Lakers threw way too much money at Timofey Mozgov and too many years at Luol Deng during this year’s free agency period. Their core of Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle should be competitive next season.
Now, there’s no guarantee the Lakers are not a bottom three team, or due to a roll from the Lottery Gods don’t lose their pick, but there’s plenty of promise. The Brooklyn Nets are going nowhere fast and even the Sixers may struggle due to many of the East’s bottom dwellers getting better in the offseason. That provides good odds for the Lakers to land at four or lower. Getting the Lakers pick in 2017 is the most advantageous outcome from the MCW trade for good reason.
As Fran Fraschilla and many others have noted, 2017 is a deep, deep draft. It has the potential to be an all-time great class, like potentially deeper with more star power than 2015. Having an additional lottery pick, especially if it’s a top-10 pick, creates an abundance of options. Paired with the Lakers pick, the Sixers can use their own pick to trade up to get a player they really want, especially if say there’s a consensus No. 1 pick in a position of need like Washington’s incoming point guard Markelle Fultz.
Two lottery picks would also make the Sixers perhaps the team with the best collection of assets to acquire a star to play with Ben Simmons and co. The Sixers could even use a pick on one of the draft’s studs and use the other pick, along with players and assets, to acquire a player. This draft is going to have tremendous hype and could present Bryan Colangelo with the chance to make his James Harden trade.
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Free agents are already taking to the Sixers more, and that’s without Simmons playing a full season, as well as the debuts of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric. A year later, who knows what the appeal will be like. But besides just the trade scenarios, the Sixers could have two lottery picks in a draft that has their two positions of great need.
Point guard and another wing are what the Sixers really lack. Draft Express’ current 2017 mock draft has five point guards in the lottery, including three of the top six players. In addition there are two top-5 options at small forward in Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Duke’s Jayson Tatum.
When the Sixers did not pull the trigger on a trade to acquire Kris Dunn they made a great decision. Why give up assets for a 22-year-old point guard, when you have one or two high picks coming in a year that has a dominant point guard class? There’s no telling what Colangelo’s thinking was, or if he thought this far ahead, but waiting for the 2017 class is a smart move.
Already powered with a core of Simmons, Saric, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor and possibly Embiid, the SIxers are loaded with young talent ready to bloom. In a year’s time, one or two of the best prospects in college basketball could join the team or help the Sixers acquire a star. The fruits of Sam Hinkie’s labor continue to shine and if you’re not including the 2017 picks as a part of the Sixers future, you truly don’t understand that the sky is the limit for this organization.
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Maintaining all of these young players and making the right trades will not be an easy task. In fact, the Sixers will likely run into a problem similar to the Oklahoma City Thunder with too much of its young core to pay. But getting to that point will be to have completed the process and that’s a damn good place to get to in just a few years time.