May 12, 2024
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
The Sixers will return to the NBA Draft stage after having no selections at all in 2023.
The Sixers' 2023-24 season is over, and the focus of President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and his front office has shifted to the offseason. While the Sixers have already been linked to many high-profile free agency and trade targets, the first portion of the summer will be the 2024 NBA Draft.
The Draft Lottery was on Sunday afternoon, with the Atlanta Hawks being awarded the No. 1 overall pick in what is believed to be one of the weakest draft classes in recent memory.
The Sixers currently own two picks in the upcoming draft: Their own first-round pick -- slotted at No. 16 -- and the Chicago Bulls' second-round pick, which the team acquired from the Boston Celtics at this year's NBA Trade Deadline in a deal centered around former first-round pick Jaden Springer -- slotted at No. 41.
Let's have some fun and take a quick look at the history of those draft slots...
• While the Sixers have been recently accustomed to picking at the end of the first round during the Joel Embiid Era -- and were certainly used to picking at the top of the draft for many years before that -- the middle of the first round is a very familiar landing spot for this organization, particularly predating the rebuild many know now as "The Process." The Sixers picked within five slots of No. 16 in seven out of eight years from 2006-2013 -- the only outlier being when they drafted Evan Turner No. 2 overall in 2010.
In 2008 and 2011, the Sixers held and kept the No. 16 overall pick. They selected Mareese Speights the first time around, before hitting on Nikola Vucevic a few years later -- though Vucevic was ultimately traded to the Orlando Magic in the infamous Andrew Bynum trade before he blossomed into the player he eventually became.
Technically, in 2018 the Sixers drafted Villanova wing Mikal Bridges at No. 10 overall. But they promptly traded Bridges to the Phoenix Suns for the No. 16 overall pick and another future first-rounder. While the Suns formally made the selection, it was the Sixers who made the choice at No. 16 that year: Zhaire Smith.
You do not need me to tell you how that one went.
• There has been some recent success at No. 16 overall in recent years. Last year, the Utah Jazz found a promising point guard in Keyontae George, while in 2021, the Houston Rockets found a young star in skilled center Alperen Sengun. Other successful picks in the last decade at the slot include Isaiah Stewart, Terry Rozier and Jusuf Nurkic.
• The best player to ever be selected at this slot is likely John Stockton of the Utah Jazz, who went on to set NBA records for assists and steals in his 19-year career.
• The Sixers have only owned the No. 41 overall selection in the NBA Draft twice in their 75-year history, the most recent being all the way back in 1975. In browsing the list of players to be chosen in that slot over the past few decades, only two have any real connection to the team: Willie Green and Jodie Meeks.
• The No. 41 overall pick in 2014, meanwhile, is one of the greatest draft picks of all time: the Denver Nuggets selected Nikola Jokic, now a three-time NBA MVP. Jokic, now well on his way to being remembered as the best player of his era, has revolutionized the sport as a once-in-a-generation offensive creator.
It is hard to hit on second-round draft picks -- particularly outside of the first few picks of the round -- but it is conceivable. Current NBA rotation players like Tre Jones, Jarred Vanderbilt and Pat Connaughton all were drafted at No. 41 overall in the last decade, in addition to Jokic.
