Despite valid fears of missing out on having a draft pick this year, the Philadelphia 76ers got some help from the basketball gods on Monday night, snagging the third overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft for themselves and securing a huge asset this summer to help turn things around after arguably their messiest campaign in franchise history.
The result could have been a lot better had it not been for some mind-boggling leaps from teams touting much lower odds at the top prize, but things could have similarly gotten much worse for them. Fortunately, their pick landed in the top-six, avoiding a grim scenario where they transmit their selection to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, the front office can finally lay out their offseason strategy with more precision, as having a draft pick this high changes how they should maneuver in the open market. Having said that, there is another pathway the 76ers cannot take — one that involves them making a rather unpopular, yet well-reasoned out move.
The 76ers could trade for Utah’s Lauri Markkanen thanks to lottery luck
Given their shallow roster construction, trading their pick seems like too risky of an idea to stomach, but the 76ers actually find themselves in an interesting position in that given the abundance of talent in the 2025 draft class, they could actually move a few spots back without really making a huge compromise.
If so, the front office could explore the idea of engaging with the Utah Jazz, which currently own the fifth overall pick, regarding a pick swap. But to make things more appealling for Philadelphia, there could be a scenario where Lauri Markkanen ends up getting shipped to the 76ers.
Despite a down year this season as the Jazz toyed with a full-blown tank job, Markkanen remains one of the most versatile and easy-to-plug star players in the league. The Finnish projects as a perfect fit next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey thanks to his elite catch-and-shoot prowess, and his sheer versatility as a frontcourt catalyst opens an ample range of possibilities for Nick Nurse and his staff.
Packaging the third overall pick for, say, Utah’s pick No. 5 and Markkanen (with salary fillers, of course), appears to be a feasible trade framework. Still, everything depends on how much risk the 76ers will be willing to take as they could very well be unable to snag one of their preferred targets in the draft if the move a couple of spots back.
Nevertheless, having a high lottery pick gives the Philadelphia 76ers much more flexibility in going about things this summer, so much so that they could even leverage their new asset to snag not only an elite prospect out of the draft, but also an established All-Star.