Before the 2016-2017 NBA Season Begins, One Last Revisit to the 2016 NBA Draft of the Philadelphia 76ers
It will go down as the draft which either marked the beginning of a team’s ascension to the upper echelons of the NBA, or simply squandered the perfect opportunity to do so. The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2016 NBA Draft torn between the selection of either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram at the top overall pick.
But it was more than a one pick draft for the Philadelphia 76ers. Selecting at 1, 24, and 26, the team had opportunity to draft in virtually any direction their board carried them that night. Let’s revisit the fateful night, now that the dust had settled, and determine if the team might have missed out on an obvious player?
Going into the draft, the Philadelphia 76ers were in need of a franchise player, wing defense, and veteran depth. As you recall, there was the interest of the team to trade draft picks for players. So much so that there were scenarios where the 76ers would deal their late draft picks.
Conversely, there were rumors of the 76ers trading up in the draft to obtain a top five pick. Since neither scenario was more than speculative, those will not be part of this post post draft grading system.
What this is all about is the draft board on that night, and players available at 1, 24 and 26. Let’s see how we did?
Next: 2016 NBA Draft Pick 1
2016 NBA Draft Pick 1
Who Picked: Point Forward Ben Simmons
Who Was There: Shooting Guard Brandon Ingram, Point Guard Kris Dunn
Analysis: The debate waged between selecting either Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons until draft night. Ben Simmons won out, and that was the right move for the team.
Don’t get me wrong, Brandon Ingram is a gifted young man and will not surprise me to hear his name in rookie of the year discussions. Ingram is a shooter, and he will score in the NBA, sometimes at a pace that will cause pause. But Ingram is a scorer, who can add defense at a position.
In Simmons, it feels as though we just “get more”. In summer league, Simmons presented a young man in control, with a high intensity, and with solid basketball logic. He placed his passes where they needed to be to give his teammates excellent looks. He demonstrated the ability to score, and to rebound. Simmons will threaten to deliver a triple double on any given night.
Ingram helps a team by scoring. Simmons helps a team by elevating everyone’s game.
Score: A
Next: 2016 NBA Draft Pick 1
2016 NBA Draft Pick 24
Who Picked: Shooting guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot
Who Was There: Furkan Korkmaz, Tyler Ulis, Dejounte Murray
Analysis: Most mock drafts projected Luwawu-Cabarrot in the lottery picks, where several had him projected as a top ten pick. Luwawu progressed while playing for France in 2014-2015. He followed that with excelling against tougher competition in 2015-2016, improving both scoring and passing. 6-foot-7 and 205 pounds is an excellent size for the backcourt. He has good athleticism to defend smaller, quicker shooting guards. While a little raw, he is a standout in the coveted “3 and D” type player. The fact that he fell to 24 was astonishing. His strongest competition was, for the most part, from Furkan Korkmaz. Luwawu gets the nod from experience, but Korkmaz has just as much potential to develop into a coveted “3 and D” player.
Point guard Tyler Ulis was a curious prospect at 24. While the Philadelphia 76ers need a point guard, they did eventually address the position substantially in free agency. Ulis is curious as a 5-foot-9 160 point point guard. Had the team succeeded with point guard Pierre Jackson, Ulis would have been an ideal prospect to develop behind Jackson.
Dejounte Murray stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 170 pounds. Heexcels in transition, whether pushing the ball himself or running the wing and staying in attack mode. But with Simmons, the team needs to surround him with shooters. Murray shot just 41.6 percent of his attempts overall and 28.8 percent of his threes.
Luwawu was the right pick. Simmons needs shooters, and Luwawu was the best on the board.
Score: A+
Next: 2016 NBA Draft Pick 26
2016 NBA Draft Pick 26
Who Picked:Shooting Guard Furkan Korkmaz
Who Was There: Tyler Ulis, Dejounte Murray, Skal Labissiere
Analysis If you had preferred the Philadelphia 76ers to select Furkan Korkmaz at 24, you didn’t need to wait long before the team made the selection at 26. Once more, Korkmaz was projected to go much earlier in the draft due to his potential to develop into another 3-and-D NBA player. Similar to Luwawu-Cabarrot, Korkmaz is a terrific shooter and his experience deficit aligns with the Philadelphia 76ers timing. Draft and stash the young man now, allowing him to compete for a roster spot next season when he will be more competitive.
While we discussed both Ulis and Murray at 24, Skal Labissiere was a curious prospect. At 6-foot-11, he is hybrid big man who could slot in as either a center or power forward. He is a good shooter, but lost a top prospect reputation as he struggled a little with Kentucky. While the Philadelphia 76ers need neither power forward nor center this year, this may be the one who “got away” from the team.
All told, the Philadelphia 76ers had hoped to land either Korkmaz or Luwawu somehow, and ultimately landed both. Each addresses the need to find shooters on the team to surround Simmons with, and their potential is similar enough that should one fail to fully develop, the other should be able to step up. Still, Labissiere, a top prospect in his own right, was there.
Score: B+
Next: Aussie Reunion
Aussie Reunion
In the end, the Philadelphia 76ers emerged from the 2016 NBA Draft as a clear winner. Despite the shopping list of “everything”, the team addressed a great number of key areas in selecting point forward Ben Simmons with the first overall selection.
Using Simmons as the key, the team then wisely chose the best perimeter shooting available to them at both 24 and 26 in selecting Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Furkan Korkmaz.
There are no guarantees of incredible success before an NBA game has been played. But a second look afterwards, looking not only at what was done but what might have been done, sometimes kicks out an obvious “oops!”. No such embarrassing revelation occurred on draft night.
In the end, the Philadelphia 76ers reunited a Simmons with head coach Brett Brown. For the foreseeable future, Brown now has the ultimate responsibility to develop not only Ben Simmons in the “positionless basketball”, but to develop a team around him. The key objective for the team in the 2016 NBA draft was to add to the talent base and improve the team.
Next: Summary
Summary
With three draft picks who were all “mocked” as lottery picks, the 76ers have done just that. Sometimes going with the consensus proves flawed. For now, assessing the moves can only be done from the perspective of consensus. The 76ers passed with flying colors.
A team must address the needs of the team. From the moment of drafting Ben Simmons with the first overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, those needs crystallized. Simmons needs shooters.
Despite the mock drafts that projected both Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Furkan Korkmaz to come off the board far earlier, the 76ers were able to land both.
Next: Philadelphia 76ers: Sister Franchise In The City Of Brotherly Love?
For many years, fate seemed to work against the team. In 2016, that cosmic antagonism faded, and in the case of Luwawu and Korkmaz, actually seemed to place the most needed skills at a position for the 76ers to select those players. The future will prove the results of this draft. For now, the logic passes with flying colors.