Why the Sixers made the moves they did on draft night

The Philadelphia 76ers’ tight roster space led them to make the moves they did on draft night.

The 2017 NBA Draft, in many ways, went as planned for the Philadelphia 76ers. They took Markelle Fultz with the first overall pick, finalizing a core that had quietly been years in the making. Proclamations of The Process’ finale soon surfaced, while many believed that the Sixers, for the first time in the Brett Brown era, where legitimately on track for playoff contention.

Philadelphia 76ers

What happened after the Fultz pick, though, caught many off guard.

Rumblings of the team looking to trade back into the first round had been going around for a few days prior to the draft itself. With a young team that was seemingly still in need of depth, opting to add another first rounder in a deep draft class made sense. Colangelo had already pulled off an impressively savvy move to grab the top pick, and many Sixers fans were anticipating a similar move on draft night.

Philadelphia inevitably did trade back into the first round, shipping away a heavily protected future pick in exchange for the Orlando Magic’s spot on 25. That’s where they caught some by surprise yet again, opting to go international by taking Latvian big man Anzejs Pasecniks.

While some were expecting another immediate contributor, Pasecniks is expected to spend another couple of seasons overseas, where he can continue to fill out physically while refining the extremities of his game.

The second round continued on a similar pathway for the Sixers. They opted to delve into international waters with both of the picks they chose to retain, selecting Jonah Bolden and Mathias Lessort with the 36th and 50th picks respectively. In a move that once again puzzled some, the team traded away the two selections that fit Philadelphia’s needs the most, shipping Oklahoma State point guard Jawun Evans to the Clippers and SMU swingman Sterling Brown to the Bucks.

Evans had generated buzz as a quality backup throughout the pre-draft process, while Brown is one of the best spot-up shooters this year’s draft had to offer. The Sixers got cash considerations in return, essentially opting for financial flexibility over any additional assets.

That’s the overarching theme of the Sixers’ draft. Financial flexibility. It’s also one that many seemed to overlook.

Philadelphia’s roster, while extremely young, is already filling up with depth at a rapid pace. J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson have now been added to an already-brimming frontcourt and backcourt. When you factor in Simmons and Fultz’s arrival, that’s three new starters and a legitimate backup that were added — all without touching any picks beyond Fultz.

I’ve touched on the state of Philadelphia’s wing depth here, while their frontcourt is as full as ever with Simmons likely to be assigned to fours on the defensive end. Jawun Evans, despite the Sixers’ oft-claimed need for guard depth, would be behind Fultz, Jerryd Bayless and T.J. McConnell out of the gates. Sterling Brown would be the seventh wing in a rotation that doesn’t have room for him to carve out a tangible role.

Yes, the Sixers need shooting, and both Evans and Brown, in different capacities, help that cause. But they also need to free up space moving forward. Embiid, Simmons and Saric are bound to tie up a large chunk of their cash alongside Robert Covington‘s extension in the near future, while Fultz will likely be in a similar position a few years down the road. Having one of the best young cores in the league eventually translates into having an expensive roster to maintain, and Bryan Colangelo, through whatever means necessary, is looking to keep his options open.

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That’s also where the international picks factor in. Not only was Pasecniks a better prospect than where he was selected, but he fits the Sixers’ current timeline. With Richaun Holmes and Amir Johnson now under contract, Philadelphia doesn’t need another center. In a few years when Johnson is gone and Holmes has signed onto a larger deal elsewhere, the Sixers can bring over the 7-foot-2 foreigner as a cost effective replacement.

Bolden and Lessort can function in very similar fashion. Neither of them is guarenteed any money, while Lessort is almost certainly going back to international waters for the next few years. Bolden could play quality minutes right away, but is best used as a cheaper long term play. He’ll be piled behind some significant frontcourt depth as it is, and would be best off as either another draft-and-stash or a potential two-way contract recipient, where he can then benefit from time in the G-League.

The Sixers opted to keep roster spots available while avoiding any additional strain on their financial books by shimmying their way around the second round. They have a handful of viable long term options at their disposal, but don’t need to commit any money to spots that aren’t available.

Next: Korkmaz could benefit from the Sixers' G-League team

It may have been a boring approach from the fans’ perspective, but the reasoning behind their approach is strong.