The Philadelphia 76ers were on idle mode during the recently concluded NBA Draft Lottery, but everyone, even Sixers fans, was still pretty shellshocked by the result. After all, in an extremely surpising turn of events, the Atlanta Hawks, a play-in team, managed to snag the rights to pick first in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Atlanta came into the annual random drawing with a puny three percent chance for the first overall pick, the fifth-lowest possible shot. As a result, the Hawks’ offseason strategy will have to be tweaked as they now have a very attractive asset they can maximize this summer to get out of mediocrity.
With Atlanta winning the lottery, the 76ers could look into a bargain deal for Dejounte Murray
The latest development could push the Hawks brass into getting even more aggressive this offseason as sellers. Trae Young is currently the much more attractive commodity, but Dejounte Murray also cannot be overlooked as a potential trade candidate for most teams.
Philadelphia, which could use a steady hand in the backcourt next to Tyrese Maxey, could look into entering a hypothetical bidding war for the one-time All-Star under the premise that they miss out on their more sterling prospects. Murray, while far from playing at an All-Star level, remains one of the better combo guards in the NBA who can play on both ends at this very best.
Even better, there’s a solid shot that the Hawks lower their asking price for Murray as long as they can open up cap space moving forward. The 76ers, who can take him in without burdening Atlanta with a return package that could hit their payroll, would probably give the latter the best shot at doing just that.
But then again, it remains to be seen whether the 76ers view a running mate in the backcourt for Maxey as of utmost priority this summer, especially with the team facing more pressing needs in other positions.
Nevertheless, this suprising quirk following the NBA Draft Lottery gives most teams, especially the 76ers, another potential seller that could be amenable to the idea of settling for a voluntary fleece job.