Philadelphia 76ers 2017 NBA draft diary

The Philadelphia 76ers 2017 NBA Draft diary. The total accounting of the Philadelphia 76ers on the night Markelle Fultz joining the Sixers

Welcome to the 2017 NBA Draft!

One of my favorite online columns to read growing up was the Bill Simmons NBA Draft Diary. I’m going to borrow that concept for tonight, as the Philadelphia 76ers have the first pick in the draft for the second consecutive season. They’re expected to select the multi-talented Markelle Fultz, 6-4 guard out of the University of Washington, to complete their young triumvirate of perennial All-Stars. I’ll be providing instant analysis for each pick from the first round for the night.

You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts!

Diary

7:34 PM EST – Here comes Commissioner Adam Silver! The crowd serenades him with boos as he congratulates the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

7:37 – The 76ers are on the clock! Rece Davis is running through the litany of injuries suffered by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid this season. Hot start for the good guys!

7:39 – Mike Wilbon and Jay Bilas are doing their anti-Process rant. Let’s hope #RTArmageddon won’t spare the two of them.

7:40 – Adam Silver makes it official and Markelle Fultz is a Sixer! Davis mentions that Fultz used to be an “avid BMX biker.” Someone take his bikes away. I can’t handle my newest, most precious baby boy riding around like Evel Knievel.

7:43 – Markelle is asked about “Trusting the Process” and what it means to him. He says he’s been trusting the process his whole life. GET HIM TO PHILLY. Markelle’s custom suit shows images from his life to this point. We’re gonna need a whole story on that one.

7:46 –

WOJ BOMB!!! Jimmy Butler to Minnesota. Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the #7 pick for Butler and the #16 pick. The madness has begun.

7:47 – My heart is already racing. The Lakers select Lonzo Ball as expected.

Back to the Butler trade because that seems to be the bigger news. In Dunn and LaVine, the Bulls get a young backcourt and a lottery pick. Hopefully LaVine can bounce back from the torn ACL he suffered this season. Seems to me like the Bulls could have got much better value out of an All-NBA player.

7:51 – LaVar Ball guarantees Lonzo will lead the Lakers to the playoffs this year. Love the confidence in his son but there’s no way he’s seen that Lakers roster. This team is expected to struggle this year. Their starting lineup projects to be worse defensively than they were last season, which is a good thing for Sixers fans. We would love to see the Lakers end up as the worst team in the league this season, strengthening the odds that Philadelphia will get the Lakers top overall pick.

7:53 – Celtics prepared to pick. Could be the first surprise of the night.

7:54 – Jayson Tatum out of Duke to the Celtics. Boston was rumored to be looking at Tatum, Josh Jackson, and Jonathan Isaac at the third spot. Out of those three, I like Tatum the least out of that group. He’s a polished scorer and a willing defender. But I think Isaac and Jackson offered more upside for the Celtics, while still each being able to contribute immediately.

7:58 – Woj reports that Josh Jackson will go fourth overall to the Phoenix Suns and De’Aaron Fox will go fifth to the Sacramento Kings. Some guys ruin all the fun.

The Eight O’Clock Hour

8:00 – Joel Embiid to Ben Simmons, who had tweeted “Crazy Pills” regarding LaVar Ball. Sixers-Lakers rivalry is back on!

8:03 – Josh Jackson is officially selected fourth. Rumors are swirling regarding the Celtics and Indiana Pacers forward Paul George. This is too much. My head is spinning.

8:08 – De’Aaron Fox is official to Sacramento. This seems like the first good pick by the Kings in my lifetime. Good for them! Fox is the fifth freshmen selected in a row, breaking the record held by the 2014 draft for most freshmen picked to start a draft.

8:14 – Jonathan Isaac goes sixth overall to the Orlando Magic. New Magic GM John Hammond came down to the Sunshine state from Milwaukee and Isaac is the perfect Hammond pick. Long, skilled, versatile defender. I would’ve liked him better on the Celtics but, alas, a good pick!

8:16 – Jay Bilas just said Isaac has “ridiculous length.” Everyone drink.

8:17 – Isaac’s hair barely makes more sense to me than Elfrid Payton’s does. It seems to defy gravity.

8:19 – Minnesota selects Finnish freshman Lauri Markkanen from Arizona, presumably to be sent to Chicago in the Butler trade. The Bulls were one of the worst shooting teams in the league last season and Markkanen’s greatest strength is his outside shot. I like Lauri’s long-term potential but, man oh man, the Bulls are going to be ugly next season.

8:25 – The crying kid from when the Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth pick in 2015 is here. Has anyone got more famous for being more wrong? I want to say no, but I don’t know the kid’s name so how famous can he be.

8:26 – Here’s the Commish: Frank Ntilikina is the pick. Phil gets his point guard of the future. Knicks fans seem torn. Should be fun watching Fultz and Frank go at it four times a year. Frank projects to be a really solid defender due to his freaky length (7-0 wingspan) so it’ll be cool to see how he and Markelle go at eachother.

8:32 – Frank mentions that he’s flying out of New York at 2:00 AM tonight to get back to France for his league’s championship game. Stud.

8:33 – ANOTHER WOJ BOMB!

Portland is expected to select Zach Collins out of Gonzaga. In the meantime, Dallas chose Dennis Smith Jr. out of North Carolina State. Smith Jr. was a favorite of many Sixers fans to go third when they still had the pick at number three. An electrifying athlete, Smith should take the reins immediately in the Big D.

8:39 – Sacramento will be selecting Collins for the Blazers. That makes nine freshman and one 18-year old international prospect chosen. Collins didn’t start in high school until his senior year, when he was a McDonald’s All-American. He’s a a mobile shot blocker with a developing outside shot. Really good pickup for a Portland team that underachieved last year.

8:41 – The Charlotte Hornets are on the clock. Will they go with the best available player in Malik Monk? Or will they go with Luke Kennard out of Duke, which would be the most Michael Jordan draft pick ever. I’d expect those two to be the next two selections (no I haven’t been tipped off by Woj).

8:43 – Five years ago, Collins was SHOCKINGLY close to predicting his 2017 draft slot. Tonight gets weirder.

8:47 – Malik Monk is selected 11th overall by the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets now have a very tiny, but incredibly quick backcourt combining Kemba Walker and Malik Monk. Charlotte struggled to score last season and Monk should absolutely help in that regard. The questions will come on the defensive end for him. He’s a fantastic athlete and, if engaged, has the potential to contain opposing point guards. But then who will Kemba defend? Time will tell.

8:52 – Nailed it! Luke Kennard to the Detroit Pistons. Kennard is up there with Monk and Markkanen as one of the top shooters in the draft. That ability will allow him to step right into the Pistons lineup and make an immediate impact, especially if Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leaves the team in free agency.

Never forget that Stan Van Gundy hates the Process. I don’t forget Stan.
Red Flag:

8:58 – And here we have another Woj Bomb:

Denver selects guard Donovan Mitchell out of Louisville. Mitchell was one of the fastest risers after the combine due to his 6-10 wingspan, sturdy frame, and elite athleticism. At the very least, he’ll be a plus defender at the next level. A tough player goes to a tough team. This is a classic Jazz pick.

The Nine O’Clock Hour

9:05 – Bam Adebayo becomes the third Kentucky Wildcat selected in the lottery by the Miami Heat. I’d imagine he’ll be coming off the bench as a backup for Hassan Whiteside because the two of them don’t seem to fit too well together. They seem to be a bit redundant as big guys with no real outside game. We’ll see how it goes!

9:10 – COMMERCIAL BREAK:

That sight is never going to get old. Opening Night can’t get here soon enough.

9:12 – Portland selects Justin Jackson, to be sent to Sacramento via earlier trade. Jackson was the ACC Player of the Year for the national champion North Carolina Tar Heels. He should help round out a young, fun starting rotation for the Kings with Fox, Buddy Hield, Skal Labissiere, and Willie Cauley-Stein. Another Kings pick that I like! This is sneaky the strangest part of tonight.

9:15 – Tom Penn shows the Bulls lineup for next season, anticipating that Dwyane Wade will be bought out: Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Niko Mirotic, Robin Lopez. Good god they’re going to struggle.

9:17 – Woj reports that the Bulls will be selecting Justin Patton out of Creighton, to be sent to Chicago, with the 16th pick. He’ll most likely be the backup for Karl Anthony-Towns. Patton came out of nowhere to turn himself into a first-round pick this past season.

9:23 – Milwaukee picks D.J. Wilson out of Michigan with the 17th pick. This is something to keep an eye on for 76ers fans. Bryan Colangelo himself spoke of the Sixers trying to put a package together to get back into the first round. And there were whispers that the Brooklyn Nets, picking at 22, had promised Wilson they’d pick him when they were on the clock. Could BC put something together to maybe trade up to that 22nd pick? Stay tuned.

9:33 – TJ Leaf goes 18th to the Indiana Pacers. The UCLA product will most likely end up as a stretch power forward for Indiana this season. He shot 62% from the field this season, showing a shooting efficiency that the inefficient Pacers will really be able to use. Nice first pick for the post-Larry Bird era in Indy.

9:37 – The Atlanta Hawks take John Collins out of Wake Forest with the 19th choice. Collins is another efficient power forward. I’d anticipate him to be the long-term replacement for Paul Millsap, who heads to free agency this summer. Haven’t been too many picks that I haven’t been a fan of so far.

9:42 – Portland delivers the selection again for the Sacramento Kings and they go with Duke forward Harry Giles. Loving the Kings draft tonight. Giles, the former #1 overall player in the country coming out of high school, could not bounce back from multiple ACL tear’s in high school and other injuries that derailed the first half of his freshman season. If he can regain some of his explosiveness and aggressiveness then this could end up being the steal of the draft.

9:44 – Giles becomes the 14th freshman selected tonight, breaking the NBA record for most freshmen taken in the first round. And we’re only at pick 20!

9:49 – OKC picks Terrance Ferguson, who elected to play in Australia rather than go to college this past season. Gotta be honest. I didn’t stay up to watch a ton of his games this last season but he can hopefully be a good three-and-D guy for the Thunder.

9:51 – The Nets are on the clock! Get that pick Brian!

9:56 – Looks like the Nets will keep the pick and select Jarrett Allen out of Texas. Allen should step into the lineup and replace the departed Brook Lopez at the center spot. He projects to offer much better defense than Lopez contributed. There haven’t been a ton of head-scratching picks tonight. Each team seems to be getting good value.

9:59 – Fultz Interruption!

Gil’s got jokes!

The Ten O’clock Hour

10:03 – OG Anunoby’s long wait ends at 23 with the Toronto Raptors. Anunoby was mostly projected to go in the Lottery as recently as last week but seems to have dropped considerably. There could be questions over how his recovery from a torn ACL is going but he’ll be in a great situation  in Toronto where he won’t be asked to carry much of a scoring load. Solid value for the Raptors this late in the first. I would’ve loved to see the Sixers trade up for OG.

10:07 – Markelle Fultz Alert on ESPN! Still no smile yet. I haven’t seen a smile. He’ll fit in perfectly with JoJo.

10:08 – Markelle says his goal for the season is to make the playoffs. SAME! He says he was intrigued by the young players on the Sixers and that Philadelphia is close to home. Also indicates that he’s ready to play wherever the team needs him. He must’ve taken those Pardon My Take PR 101 lessons to heart because he’s saying all the right things.

This was interesting to see:

10:12 – The Utah Jazz take Syracuse forward Tyler Lydon who will be sent to the Denver Nuggets. ANOTHER stretch power forward selected tonight. The league is trending towards positionless basketball where everyone can shoot and defend. Tonight’s draft is holding true to that. Not sure if Lydon is exactly what Denver needs though.

10:17 – UH OH!!!!! COME ONNNNN BRYAN!

10:18 – Orlando takes Anzejs Pasecniks out of Latvia….AND HE’S OUR NEWEST SIXER!!!!

International guru Fran Fraschilla raves about Pasecniks. Fran said Anzejs is a long and athletic big man who will be great running the floor and catching lobs. He doesn’t project to be a great defender initially but I’d expect him to stay overseas for another year or two. That’s technically four international players out of Bryan Colangelo’s first five draft choices with the Sixers. Five draft picks from five different countries. The United Nations 76ers! Welcome to the team my most Latvian son.

10:25 – Looks like the Sixers are trading a future first for that 25th overall selection:

10:26 – Portland drafts Purdue forward Caleb Swanigan at 26 overall. Great competitor and a really nice scorer but he may have a tough time on defense at the next level.

10:28 – Update on Sixers trade:

According to Derek Bodner, that first is top-20 protected and if it doesn’t convey then it turns into two second round picks in 2022 and 2023.

10:30 – The Nets are on the clock again but will send this pick to the Lakers as part of the D’Angelo Russell trade from Wednesday. Great trade for Brooklyn as they finally have a solid young piece to build around for the future.

10:31 – The Lakers will be getting Kyle Kuzma out of Utah and now they pick again at number 28.

10:34 – Another trade!

Donovan Mitchell and young Tony Bradley for the Jazz tonight. Not too shabby.

10:41 – The last two picks of the first round have been revealed on Twitter and we finally have a couple seniors picked. Derrick White out of Colorado will go to the San Antonio Spurs. White played Division-II ball for his first three years before transferring to Colorado for his senior year. Impressive story to turn himself into a first rounder.

And with the final pick, and somewhat fitting for me to close the article: Villanova product Josh Hart. Many around here would’ve loved to see the local guy make it onto the Sixers but no one is going to be upset to see him get himself a guaranteed contract by being a first round selection.

Next: Sixers' 2017 NBA Draft grades

That caps it off for me folks. I had a blast doing this for the first time and I hope everyone enjoyed reading. Trust the Process and welcome to Philadelphia Markelle and Anzejs!