The Philadelphia 76ers face an off-season of change following the appointment of Doc Rivers as head coach in place of Brett Brown, with the NBA Draft the first point of action.
Philly is armed with four second round picks and one first round pick which conveyed via the Oklahoma City Thunder finishing with a top 10 record.
Entering the 2019-20 off-season, the 76ers have their core in place with Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Joel Embiid, but there are plenty of question marks surrounding the complientary pieces on the roster.
With that in mind, what should the 76ers look to do with their collection of picks?
Pick breakdown
1. Round 1, Pick 21 (via OKC)
2. Round 2, Pick 34 (via ATL)
3. Round 2, Pick 36 (via NYK)
4. Round 2, Pick 49
5. Round 2, Pick 58 (via ORL)
Address the need for more shooting?
It's no secret that spacing has been an issue for the 76ers in recent years, with Simmons and Embiid playing their best ball with knockdown shooters on the perimeter, opening up the lane for both stars, while giving the Aussie point guard reliable snipers for his drive-and-kick game.
Last season, Furkan Korkmaz, Alec Burks, and Shake Milton were the only rotation players to shoot over 40 percent from deep and it's safe to assume 76ers GM Elton Brand will be looking to bolster their firepower from the 3-point line.
Our Draft expert Eric Fawcett broke down the five best shooters in the Draft, including Desmond Bane (TCU), Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State), Isaiah Joe (Arkansas), Markus Howard (Marquette), and Aaron Nesmith, (Vanderbilt), with Haliburton likely to be off the board by the time the 76ers pick, projected to go 11th in his Mock Draft.
If the 76ers look to use their no. 21 pick for a shooter, Bane, a 44.2% shooter in his senior season at TCU projects as a solid fit, as does Nesmith, who shot 52.2% from deep on 8.2 attempts per game.
With Joe (43) and Howard (59) projected to be available late in the econd round, Philly has some solid options for their late second round picks to add even more shooting to the roster.
Adding a backup point guard?
Shake Milton's emergence last season plugged a hole for the 76ers at backup point guard, but with Raul Neto the only other PG on the roster behind Simmons, expect Philly to look to add another reliable balll-handler to direct traffic while Simmons is on the bench or if he is used in lineups as a screener in the pick-and-roll.
Josh Richardson chipped in at times running the offence for Philly, but they will be in the market for a bench player who can not only score the ball, but get them into their sets and keep the score ticking with the second unit.
In NBA.com's most recent Mock Draft, Kyle Irving projects Alabama's Kira Lewis Jr. to the 76ers with the no. 21 pick, breaking down the lightning quick 6'3" guard's game below:
"Lewis Jr. is a blazing fast guard who can use his speed to help him get to anywhere he wants on the floor. He's a good decision maker in pick-and-rolls but his playmaking and ball handling could improve. He's a solid enough shooter to keep opponents weary of him and has no trouble creating his own shot. On defence, his quickness comes in handy but his size (6-foot-3, 165 lbs.) makes him a target in pick-and-roll switches. Sometimes he's moving too fast for his own good, but it's a plus more than a minus."
If Lewis isn't the 76ers' man, they have options later in the draft that could fill their need for playmaking and scoring off the bench in Grant Riller (College of Charleston), Nico Mannion (Arizona) or Cassius Winston (Michigan State).
Trade up?
Is there a player the 76ers are in love with that would make sense to trade up for?
In a class deep with point guards, a player like RJ Hampton, who Kyle Irving had at no. 16 in his Mock Draft, fits the mold of someone who could be worth combining their assets to move up and take a flyer on.
Per Irving: "Hampton is a combo guard who uses his explosive first step to score at the rim. He's a plus athlete with reliable handles and shows flashes of a player who could become a solid playmaker and passer in the NBA. He can do damage as a cutter when playing off-ball, but his inconsistent jump shot puts a limit on his ceiling until he gets that figured out. He has the potential to be a great perimeter defender."
The 19-year-old played in Australia's National Basketball League for the New Zealand Breakers, which saw him utilised as more of a role player, rather than having the ball in his hands like LaMelo Ball did during his stint in the NBL. Hampton showed he can effectively adapt to a veteran team with title aspirations as he did in NZ, while still using his athleticism and offensive arsenal to pick his spots and impact the game.
He likely won't be on the board at no. 21 for Philly, but if they can move up to get a player like Hampton, I wouldn't rule it out.
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