Amid the NBA playoffs the NBA Lottery draft for the non-playoff bound teams took place and with it the NBA draft order has now been determined. For the lottery teams this year's draft marks hope and optimism as he talent pool here is deemed to be considerably better than it has been in the past few years; mind you it seems like the draft pundits say this same thing every single season.
Nonetheless, the teams who are holding lottery bound picks must be looking at ways to complement their rosters, be it by using the upcoming selection or via a trade on draft day. Not every team with lottery selections are able to address their needs via the draft as there is only so much talent available at each position and since these rookie deals are guaranteed, the new incoming salary amounts must be accounted for within the team's salary cap.
As the NBA Draft approaches eDraft.com will look at each of the lottery teams and identify their needs heading into the draft as well as who might be available to fill hose teams needs. Our draft coverage won't stop there though as post-draft we will have analysis of the picks as well as report cards for each of the teams as to how they fared.
Our next installment of pre-draft analysis takes us to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia where we once again see the 76ers holding a high draft pick in the upcoming entry draft. Fans of the 76ers have been relatively patient to this point; however, they must be getting a bit antsy for the team to draft a player that will actually play and hopefully for more than a couple seasons. After watching their once coveted Michael Carter-Williams get shipped out! followed by having to wait a year to see Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid then having to watch as the recently drafted and then immediately traded Elfrid Payton emerges as a budding star for another team while their acquired asset in Dario Saric has yet to play a minute in the association. There is no question that the 76ers must start using their stockpiled picks here to shape this franchise. They can ill afford any more draft slips as the talent is needed on the court and it is needed now.
Key Pieces to Build Around:
As of right now, factoring in the unproven Embiid as a commodity, the 76ers really have Nerlens Noel as a proven building block type player. Noel certainly has some potential for Philadelphia and he could very well be an all-star one day. Noel is an everyday starter and developed nicely in his rookie season enroute to a near double-double average of 9.9 ppg and 8.1 rpg. Now the problem becomes who else is suitable to and worthy of keeping.
The 76ers have already shown their willingness to move almost anyone as evidenced by the exodus of Michael Carter-Williams for what will amount to a protected lottery pick next season from Los Angeles. A second bright spot for Philly moving forward could be the young and reasonably priced Tony Wroten. Wroten is under contract for only $2.1 million and he is well set up to either be traded or given a commitment from the club moving forward. If the 76ers choose to trade Wroten then they will need some serious backcourt help to go along with their Noel and Embiid frontcourt.
State of the Union - 76ers
The rebuild process in Philadelphia is still years in the making as they just aren’t going to be competitive even in the lesser Eastern Conference for at least another three years. For all the criticism that General Manager Sam Hinkie endures from his fellow GM’s and league associated for his tanking; he is fully aware that in order to win in the NBA one needs a bonafide superstar and the only way for him to get one is to draft one.
The team is certainly trending in the right direction with Noel and Embiid, but where Hinkie craves the most success is at the point guard spot. This type of reasoning is exactly why MCW was jettisoned out of town; Hinkie wants that Allen Iverson-type point guard and that certainly wasn’t Carter-Williams style of play. Hinkie knows that attacking, scoring and athletic point guards are the players that control the tempo and ultimately control the game. With athletic and mobile bigs in Noel and Embiid; Hinkie wants a guard who can push the pace and play an uptempo style of game.
Draft Needs:
It is obvious and just as easy to identify that the 76ers will be looking long and hard at backcourt options here. If the Los Angeles Lakers pass on Emmanuel Mudiay in favour of some frontcourt help then I don’t expect Mudiay to fall any further. Mudiay is exactly the type of player that Sam Hinkie wants and for all the talk about D’Angelo Russell being the better point guard, he lacks the same athleticism as Mudiay. There is no doubt that Philadelphia will select either Mudiay or Russell with this pick; which one hears their name being called with the number three pick has more to do with the Lakers at the two spot than anything else.