After the 2021 draft, the Sixers made a whopping ZERO draft picks that are on the teams.
In 2022, they drafted David Roddy (who instantly went to Memphis), and then in 2023, they did not make a selection.
In recent years, this front office has completely overlooked the importance of the NBA draft, where solid players can be found for a very reasonable price.
Failing to Make Good Picks
Part of me can’t blame the front office for undervaluing draft picks, given how unsuccessful they’ve drafted when they do make picks. Whether it’s trading Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith or drafting Markelle Fultz over Jayson Tatum, their recent history is riddled with bad decisions.
Even though they have made mistakes, the best people at any job learn how to correct their mistakes. Instead of correcting them, this front office became scared to make mistakes, resulting in obtaining the draft altogether.
Bad Philosophy
While the process did land us with Joel Embiid, such sustained loss should have ultimately resulted in more good players than only Embiid. It’s almost as if they decided to forgo the scouting department since they drafted so high. High picks are great, but finding talent later in the draft is just as good.
Many basketball fans think it’s too hard to build a team without a high pick at one point of another. Fans and front offices often want to lose in order to land players like Wemby or Holmgren to restart a franchise, yet, ironically, the Thunder’s best player wasn’t a top-10 pick (Gilgeous-Alexander).
Lottery picks aren’t a necessity to build a playoff contender. Just look at the team the Sixers just got rolled by! None of their consistent rotation guys were lottery picks!
Let’s take a look at the players that killed the Sixers most.
- Jalen Brunson (33rd pick)
- Josh Hart (30th pick)
- Donte DiVincenzo (17th pick)
- Isaiah Hartenstein (43rd pick)
- Mitchell Robinson (36th pick)
- OG Anunoby (23rd pick)
- Bojan Bogdanović (31st pick)
For the most part, that’s the squad the Knicks rolled out against the Sixers. Notice how not one of them was a lottery pick, and, besides Bogdanović, these players are in their 5th year or less. That means they have youth, talent, and cheap contracts, and they didn’t mortgage their franchise to get them.
This philosophy is less common in the NBA and is unheard of in the Sixers’ organization.
Other Great 2nd Round Picks
Aside from the Knicks, there are plenty of other great 2nd round picks around the NBA. To start, the 3-time MVP winner, Nikola Jokic, was selected at the 41st pick in the draft. While the Sixers did get Joel Embiid in that draft, they also selected K.J. McDaniels just 9 picks ahead of Jokic and Jerami Grant 2 picks ahead of him. Obviously, Embiid and Jokic wouldn’t share the court and divide time, but it goes to show how teams can draft MVPs at any stage of the draft.
Another great second round pick – Draymond Green – has won multiple NBA titles as a key contributor with the Warriors. He’s a controversial player, but his impact on the floor is unarguable. He’s a great glue guy that brings energy and intensity to every game.
Deandre Jordan and Marc Gasol are two great centers drafted in the second round. They aren’t the same players they used to be, but they’ve had great careers. Imagine the impact a player like them could have on this team. Throughout Embiid’s whole career, the team has desperately searched for a worthy backup. They don’t want to shell out much money, yet they ignore the draft where a suitable candidate could be found.
Sixers’ 2024 Picks
In this upcoming draft, the Sixers have their own 16th pick and the Bulls’ 41st pick. What can they absolutely not do? Trade it away. Unless they get a young star in return, they cannot mortgage even more of their future for an aging star like Jimmy Butler.
This team needs to be patient and get its scouts working hard to find suitable talent. At 16, the Sixers should have plenty of opportunity to find a good player to fit this team.
Luckily, this team has needs at every position, which should force them to draft the best available player regardless of their play style.
Even at the 41st pick, they need to find value. Missing on both of these picks could jeopardize Joel Embiid’s career.
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