NBA PM: Sixers Must Get 2014 Draft Right

Sixers Must Get 2014 Draft Right

The Philadelphia 76ers didn’t win the lottery as they had hoped, but that doesn’t mean they can’t drastically improve their team on draft night. With the No. 3 and No. 10 picks in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft, the 76ers will have the opportunity to add two potential franchise cornerstones to their young core, which already features 2013 lottery picks Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel.

This is such a talented draft class that Philadelphia may be able to land two star-caliber players with their pair of top-10 picks, making them one of the teams to watch on June 26.

With the No. 3 pick, they can draft whoever is available out of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid after the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks pick. Or, if they want to get creative, they could select Dante Exum and pair him with Carter-Williams to form a scary backcourt that is ridiculously tall and long.

Exum and Sixers head coach Brett Brown go way back, since Brown coached Exum on the Australian national team and coached Exum’s father in the NBL. Philadelphia was one of the first teams to meet with Exum at the combine, and Exum admitted that some of the teams he met with expressed interest in playing him alongside another point guard to run a two-PG system similar to what the Phoenix Suns ran this year with Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic.

Regardless of who Philadelphia settles on, it seems that they’ll be able to land a very talented player at No. 3 since Wiggins, Parker, Embiid and Exum all have star potential.

With the No. 10 pick, they have plenty of options such as Aaron Gordon, Dario Saric, Doug McDermott, Jusuf Nurkic or James Young among others, depending on who is available. They could also trade up, trade down or package the picks together in a deal.

Philadelphia went all in on this draft class, after trading away All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday for the New Orleans Pelicans’ first-round pick (No. 10) and tanking away the 2013-14 season to land a top selection (No. 3).

Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie has put the franchise in position to be big winners on draft night, as the only team with two top-10 picks, but he must make the most of those selections in order to justify the trade and losses.

If last year’s draft is any indication, Hinkie should be able to maximize Philly’s picks. He proved that he’s a solid talent evaluator by selecting Carter-Williams, the eventual Rookie of the Year, with the No. 11 pick last year as well as pouncing on Noel at No. 7 when he slipped lower than anyone projected.

The Sixers understand the importance of this draft for the franchise’s future. Brown stated during the season that the team needs to land at least one star with their first-round picks.

“I think it’s important,” Brown said of drafting a star, according to Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times. “I think it’s really important. Stars want to play with stars. And it’s too early to say anything about Michael or what you can project Nerlens out to be. Just because somebody’s chosen high in the draft doesn’t mean they’re going to be a star, either.”

Everything that Philadelphia went through this season – including the 19-63 record and 26-game losing streak – will be worth it if they’re able to land a franchise player in the 2014 NBA Draft.

As Brown said, stars like to play with stars, and acquiring that first star is always hard. Hinkie struggled with this during his time in the Houston Rockets’ front office. For years, the Rockets tried to land a star player but struck out on everyone from Chris Bosh to Carmelo Anthony to Dwight Howard (who later came around and decided Houston wasn’t so bad, but only once James Harden was already in town). This is the Sixers’ chance to land that star player who will excite fans, right the ship and attract other players to Philadelphia.

In addition to the team’s two first-rounders, Philadelphia also has five second-round picks in this year’s draft. The Sixers could try to package some of these picks to trade for an additional 2014 first-rounder or a future pick, or they could use the selections themselves. They could use the picks to improve their depth since they have a lot of holes. However, it’s very unlikely that the team will bring seven rookies to camp, so don’t be surprised if the Sixers take a page from the San Antonio Spurs’ book and draft-and-stash some of their second-rounders overseas.

The Spurs have done this better than any other team in the league, selecting players and then leaving them overseas to continue their development. It worked extremely well with Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter, but they’ve done it with many other players as well. In fact, San Antonio currently has a handful of guys playing overseas right now including Livio Jean-Charles, DeShaun Thomas, Davis Bertans, Ryan Richards, Adam Hanga and Marcus Denmon.

If Philadelphia wants to use those second-round picks, but doesn’t want half of their roster to be rookies, they could use the draft-and-stash method with some of their picks and see how their selections develop after a year or two of international play.

All eyes will be on the Sixers on June 26. If Hinkie and his staff get this draft right, the rebuilding process becomes much easier and suddenly Philadelphia could be one of the better up-and-coming teams in the NBA.

Gordon Ready to Prove Himself in NBA

Aaron Gordon is one of the most intriguing players in the 2014 NBA Draft. The 6’9 forward has a wingspan that is nearly 7’0 and an 8’9 standing reach. But what has NBA talent evaluators drooling is Gordon’s athleticism, which was on display recently at the combine in Chicago. He had a 39-inch max vertical, did the shuttle run in 2.76 seconds (first among all prospects) and ran the lane agility drill in 10.81 seconds (the only non-guard to finish in the top 10).

It’s easy to see why some NBA teams are falling in love with Gordon. He is an athletic freak and, at only 18 years old, he has plenty of potential. In most drafts, Gordon would likely be in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick, but this isn’t most drafts. Instead, he has to compete with the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid, all of whom could be franchise players in the NBA.

However, don’t be surprised if Gordon goes higher than expected on draft night. He could win a team over and climb up draft boards between now and June 26. Not only is Gordon an amazing athlete, he’s an extremely hard worker and he really impressed teams in interviews. He is his biggest critic when it comes to his game, and he’s striving for greatness.

“I need to not be so hard on myself,” Gordon admitted. “I’m only 18 years old, so I’m not going to be perfect. But in my mind I feel like I should be, and so when I don’t do as well as I need to or as well as I want to then, I get really down on myself and that starts to compound mistakes.”

The biggest question surrounding Gordon is what position he’ll play in the NBA. Is he a small forward or a power forward? The tweener label could scare some teams away, but Gordon isn’t concerned about making the transition to the league. He feels his versatility will actually make him more valuable and effective at the next level.

“The most common question [from teams] was what position do you think you’re going to play, or what position do you think you can play?” Gordon said. “I just answered, ‘I’m a forward, but you can play me at the one, you can play me at the five, you can play me at the two, you can play me at the three, you can play me at the four, it doesn’t matter.’ … I’m a basketball player, I can do pretty much everything out there and that’s what I intend on doing.”

One team that met with Gordon at the combine in the Philadelphia 76ers, and they have expressed interest in him. If he’s still on the board at No. 10, the team told him that he’ll someone they consider.

“Obviously, they said they’re a rebuilding team, and I said that’s something that I’m interested in,” Gordon said of the Sixers. “A rebuilding team forces you to find a niche extremely quickly if you want to win. They said, ‘With a couple of people, you’ll be right there in the running.’”

Gordon’s brother, Drew, played for New Mexico and went through the NBA’s pre-draft process back in 2012. He went undrafted, but ended up playing summer league with the Dallas Mavericks before going overseas. He has tried to help his younger brother through this process and let him know what to expect.

“[He told me] just go out and do your best,” Gordon said. “I mean, it’s pretty general advice. He didn’t give me any much more advice than that. He knows that I’m going to do well, he has faith in me and I appreciate that in him.”

A number of NBA executives also have faith in Gordon and believe he’ll do well at the next level, which is why he’s surely to be a lottery pick and may climb into the top 10.

Up Close With Dante Exum

See what Dante Exum had to say when he addressed the media at the NBA combine in Chicago. He discusses what position he wants to play at the next level, how he’ll transition to the NBA and which players he has modeled his game after. Check out the video below: