Philadelphia 76ers: Ranking first round picks for the past 10 years

6. Evan Turner

Evan Turner was the second overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. Despite being an accomplished college player, Turner was never able to become more than a solid role player during the peak of his career.

During Turner’s Philadelphia 76ers tenure, he averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in three and a half seasons before being traded to the Indiana Pacers. The reason why he was traded was that the Sixers were in the first season of “The Process” and the team was trading away veterans for future draft assets to help improve the roster during this rebuild.

I’ve already written about who the Sixers messed up by drafting 6-foot-6 point forward. There were plenty of other choices like DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward, and Paul George. In said article, I suggest that George was the best player the Sixers should have drafted.

To be fair to Turner, outside of a poor jump shot, the other reason he didn’t fulfill his value as the second overall pick was like with Vucevic and Moutrie, the 6-foot-6 wing also developed under Doug Collins as a head coach. Turner didn’t become a full-time starter under Collins until his third season.

Turner had a rough start in his Sixers tenure, and the fact is he never lived up to his draft selection. However, he’s number six in these rankings because he was still a solid role player for the franchise, especially toward the end of his tenure. After his stint with the Pacers, he’s been on the Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks, and currently the Minnesota Timberwolves, although he hasn’t played a game for them yet.