Philadelphia 76ers: Past draft selections at the 33rd pick
The Philadelphia 76ers have failed to find any long term fit with any of the players that they selected with the 33rd pick in the NBA draft.
Ever since the franchise took on the name, the Philadelphia 76ers, they have had the 33rd pick in the NBA draft five times. None of those players ended up playing more than two seasons for the Sixers. Like with the 24th pick, the Sixers need to break the trend and find a solid rotational player with the 33rd pick. It should be noted the Sixers acquired this pick as a result of the Markelle Fultz trade to the Orlando Magic and was originally the Cleveland Cavaliers second round pick.
Three out of five of these players never even played a single minute for the 76ers. Both Ray Flynn of the 1963 NBA Draft and Marvin Stewart of the 1971 NBA Draft never played in the NBA. Flynn ended up having a long political career after he decided not to play for the Sixers.
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The other player to never play for the Sixers after being selected was Marko Milic. He was selected in the 1997 NBA Draft by the 76ers and was eventually traded for Tom Chambers who only played one game for Philly before retiring. Milic played two seasons for the Phoenix Suns as a result of the trade and only averaged 2.5 points in those seasons before not playing in the NBA.
That only leaves two players that were selected at the 33rd pick by the Sixers that ended up playing for the franchise. Greg Stokes is the first player that the 76ers selected with the 33rd pick that played for the club. He was drafted in 1985 and played his rookie and only season with Philly. The 6-foot-10 power forward averaged 4.1 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 47.1 percent from the field.
After his rookie season, the big man didn’t play for the Sixers again and played overseas for three seasons, before playing for the Sacramento Kings for a short stint. He played very poorly for them and ended up being waived after 11 games. He averaged 0.4 points during his stint with the Kings.
In the 1994 NBA Draft, Derrick Alston was drafted with the 33rd pick. He played decently in his two seasons with the Sixers. The center showed growth from his rookie to his second season. In those two seasons, the 6-foot-11 big man averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds, while making 49.3 percent of his shots from the floor. He was released by Philly in the offseason after his second year.
He was signed by both the Seattle Super Sonics and Atlanta Hawks, but only saw playing time with the Hawks. In two games with Atlanta, Alston failed to score a field goal and averaged 5.5 minutes and 2.0 rebounds.
Next. Sixers work out several wings, including Harris’ brother. dark
In the past, the 33rd pick hasn’t been a long term positive for the Philadelphia 76ers, but hopefully they will have luck with that pick in this upcoming draft. Even if the Sixers miss in this draft at that spot, they still have three other selections in the second round beyond the 33rd pick.