The 76ers are in position to start heat debates, again. Picking third overall, with Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor (or D'Angelo Russell) likely off the board, the Sixers' front office is stressing and working over all options for a potentially franchise-altering decision.
Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie prefers to keep quiet and open-minded. In this year's draft, though, he does not have a choice: Especially if Towns and Okafor are off the board, there are no obvious selections here. Towns, who is expected to go first overall to the Timberwolves, might be the only obvious pick in the draft.
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If there is one easy choice at No. 3 (with Okafor and Towns off the board), it's Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell. Modern trends suggest taking Russell first wouldn't be as crazy as some would think. Philly could fall into something nice here. No big man has won the NBA MVP since Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006-07 season, and nine of the past 10 NBA Finals MVPs have been perimeter players.
While anything is possible with Towns and Okafor, Russell's game plays right into the mold of a top-notch NBA guard. Offensively, he's skilled, big, and tall enough to play either guard position, has a knack for scoring at a high volume, and is a fantastic passer. None of this is to imply that Russell is a future MVP and Towns is not, but history does suggest that drafting a great guard early in the draft has clear advantages.
This would be especially advantageous for head coach Brett Brown, who has been waiting for 2 years to hand the reins over to a guy that can properly execute his offense. Guard play in Philadelphia has been spotty, and Russell's ball handling and control would add much-needed stability.
While Russell would be the safest pick, there are still other options that will be there in this scenario. A name that keeps coming up in the "stock is rising" conversation is Kristaps Porzingis, who has been rumored to go as high as No. 2 to the Lakers. And under Sam Hinkie's philosophy, if Porzingis is the top player, he'll be the pick. Same goes for Russell, Emmanuel Mudiay, Willie Cauley-Stein, Mario Hezonja or whoever the Sixers are enamored with.
The Sixers aren't going to draft for need as long as they're in a rebuilding mode.
But even so, the Sixers can rest easy knowing power forward-center Nerlens Noel is for real contribution. But last year's No. 3 pick, center Joel Embiid seems far from it after recent reports that his injury-induced absence might be extended into early next season. With that, for the continued sake of hypotheticals: what if the Lakers snatch up D'Angelo Russell, leaving them a chance at another great center prospect?
If Jahlil Okafor is available at 3, the Sixers could draft him, but it would be understandable if they did not. In Sporting News' Adi Joseph explained why the Lakers drafting Russell would make a lot of sense, and why Philly passing on Okafor could be the next step. But if it becomes abundantly clear that Embiid's injury becomes a bigger problem, Okafor should be an even more attractive option than he already is.
No matter how the top two shake up, the Sixers will have options. What they won't have is the luxury of knowing exactly what to do. On one hand, this makes the process more exciting fr the average fan, and gives the Sixers more freedom to explore their options without backlash from the public. On the other hand, not having an aforementioned "obvious guy" makes the process longer and more stressful.
Whether they take the simple route and take Russell, shake things up with another prospect, trade the pick, or work with surprise early in the draft and take Okafor, the third pick is not set in stone, and won't be until the pick is announced.