Philadelphia 76ers’ 2017 NBA Draft Class
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Markelle Fultz, No. 1 overall
Everyone knows Fultz’s career did not start off ideally, and after only appearing in 14 games last season, the Washington product is on a mission to prove his doubters wrong. He missed 68 games due to a combination of a shoulder injury, a lost jump shot, and an absence of confidence.
Now, after a summer working with world-class trainer Drew Hanlen, the first pick from the 2017 draft should come close to returning to the player the Sixers thought they had drafted with the No. 1 pick.
Hanlen still has not released a video of Fultz’s new and improved jumper, and it’s likely that Sixers fans will have to wait a few weeks until the team’s Blue x White Scrimmage at the Palestra on Sept. 25 to see if the trainer has had any effect on the comboguard’s recovery.
Jonah Bolden, No. 36 overall
Bolden took the long way to enter the NBA: he left UCLA after the NCAA ruled him ineligible to play as a freshman, so he signed for FMP Beograd in Serbia, where he picked up the league’s Top Prospect award while shooting over 40 percent from three-point range.
He fell down to earth this past season with Maccabi Tel Aviv: he hit just 31.9 percent of his threes and saw his point and rebound totals decrease compared to the numbers he put up in Serbia. Israel’s league is more competitive than Serbia’s, and a strict cap on the number of foreign players each team can use meant Bolden saw inconsistent playing time for most of the year.
Since the team traded Richaun Holmes, the Australian forward should find a spot at the end of the bench. If his shooting stroke returns in time for the start of the season, he could find himself firmly in the rotation.
Jawun Evans, No. 39 overall
The Sixers traded Evans to the Los Angeles Clippers a few weeks after the 2017 draft, and the point guard from Oklahoma State found his way into Doc Rivers‘ second unit for the latter half of the 2017-18 season.
The Clips found themselves in an injury crisis, and after they traded Chris Paul last offseason, they had no identity at the point guard position, so Evans found his way into their pool of floor generals by some luck.
Evans played in 48 games last season with the Clips, starting four of them and averaging 4.8 points and 2.1 assists. He became a beloved figure in L.A. this past year thanks to his T.J. McConnell-like grit and effort up and down the court.
Sterling Brown, No. 46 overall
Though most people know him for his unsettling altercation with Milwaukee police over the summer, the wing from SMU actually cracked the Bucks’ rotation and averaged four points and 2.6 boards in 14.4 minutes per game as a rookie. The Sixers drafted him, but they quickly traded him to the Bucks for $1.9 million.
Now, like many of the second round picks the Sixers made in recent years, Brown faces a war this fall as he will make his claim for an NBA roster spot. He’s living proof that not even fame and talent can save someone from racial profiling in America, and he’s also proof that getting drafted is only half the battle when it comes to finding a job in the league.
Mathias Lessort, No. 50 overall
The Sixers drafted Lessort, a Martinique-born French citizen, as a late low-risk, high-reward draft-and-stash prospect, and based on his track record in Europe, he could have an outside shot of coming over and fighting for a roster spot in the next few seasons. He plays power forward and center, but standing at 6-foot-9, he lacks size for both of those positions by NBA standards.
In Euroleague play this past season, the 22-year-old dropped 8.5 points and 5.7 boards in 21.1 minutes per game. He never even attempted a three-pointer, which calls his possible NBA future into question. At best, he looks like another Shawn Long, but this season in Spain with Unicaja should tell Sixers fans a lot about the kind of player he will develop into.
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