June 22, 2026
The 2026 NBA Draft begins on Tuesday, and it will mark new Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey's first chance to leave his imprint on the organization he is set to lead into the future.
Armed with the No. 22 overall pick – courtesy of the Jared McCain trade swung by his predecessor – Gansey has expressed optimism that the Sixers will land a quality player with a strong fit. He ran the Cleveland Cavaliers' draft process during his time as general manager, and up until a few weeks ago he was slated to chart that team's course with the No. 29 overall pick.
"The good news is he's seen all these guys," Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment President of Sports Bob Myers said earlier this month. "It's not like he's sitting there going, 'I don't know who any of these guys are.'"
Will Gansey stay at No. 22 overall? If not, where could he trade up or down? Kicking off a massive week with 5 Sixers thoughts, focused on all things draft:
Back in January, a reader asked for a Sixers mailbag which opposing team Daryl Morey had traded with the most since arriving in Philadelphia. The answer was Oklahoma City; Morey and Thunder shot-caller Sam Presti, in part, built their legacies by fleecing each other in high-profile deals. About three weeks later, Morey and Presti agreed on the deal that sent McCain to the Thunder.
If Gansey makes his first trade as the Sixers' lead decision-maker during this draft, there is a chance it will be a deal involving Oklahoma City, owners of two picks in the middle of the first round and an early second-round selection with likely only one roster spot available.
What might a deal between the Sixers and Thunder look like? Oklahoma City picks at No. 12, No. 17 and No. 37; there are reasonable constructs involving all of those picks.
Let's work backwards. Perhaps the Sixers want to add a second rookie to their roster and utilize their abundance of future second-rounders:
| Sixers receive... | Thunder receive... |
| No. 37 overall pick | 2027 second-round pick (more favorable PHX/GSW) |
| 2027 second-round pick (most favorable HOU/IND/MIA/OKC) | |
| 2032 second-round pick (less favorable MEM/PHI) |
Maybe they are eyeing a specific prospect and fear that player will fall into their laps:
| Sixers receive... | Thunder receive... |
| No. 17 overall pick | No. 22 overall pick |
| 2027 second-round pick (more favorable PHX/GSW) | |
| 2027 second-round pick (most favorable HOU/IND/MIA/OKC) |
Or maybe they want to overwhelm Oklahoma City and work their way up into the lottery, giving Gansey a chance to add a premium young talent to Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe:
| Sixers receive... | Thunder receive... |
| No. 12 overall pick | No. 22 overall pick |
| No. 37 overall pick | 2028 first-round pick via LAC |
The far-and-away likeliest scenario is that the Sixers simply stick and pick at No. 22. But no matter what archetype of trade they look at, there is a conceivable match with the Thunder.
MORE: Coming up with more Sixers trade ideas – some flashy, some not
If the Sixers were to move up – let's say by utilizing the 2028 unprotected first-rounder owed to them by the Los Angeles Clippers – which prospects could it be for? A quick rundown of some frontcourt players slated to hear their names called late in the lottery, since much of the focus has been on potential targets across all positions at No. 22:
• Morez Johnson Jr., one of three highly-touted prospects to come out of the frontcourt for the champion Michigan Wolverines, has appeared to be one of the major risers of this year's pre-draft process. He seems like a strong bet to be viable at power forward and center in the NBA, and if his three-point shot continues to come along he will be a high-level big for a long time.
Morez Johnson's defensive versatility is one of my favorite elite skills in the 2026 NBA Draft. These playoffs are yet again showing us the necessity to have defensive versatility and physicality. At 6'9" 250 pounds, Johnson can defend nearly anyone on the court and lock up all… pic.twitter.com/H4OofWSOSH
— Tyler Metcalf (@tmetcalf11) June 5, 2026
• Another name generating significant buzz is Nate Ament, a very tall wing prospect from Tennessee. Ament's range seems to start as high as No. 6 and might not end too far away. A former elite high-school recruit, Ament averaged 16.7 points per game for the Volunteers and is still only 19 years old. But he shot just under 40 percent from the field in college. Drafting him would be a bet on potential.
• While Karim López has been a professional for many years, he is just now getting set to enter the NBA. López, who will only turn 20 years old as his first regular season in the league ends, averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in the NBL last season.
• Yaxel Lendenborg, also part of Michigan's dominant frontcourt and a native of Pennsauken, looks ready to be an impactful rotation forward the minute he steps onto an NBA floor. He is extremely versatile defensively, capable of defending across the positional spectrum. He grades out as a high-caliber shooting prospect given his 6-foot-10, 241-pound frame. He will be one of the best players in this draft class next season. And... he will be 24 years old for his rookie campaign. He is nearly five years older than one player the Sixers could end up with at No. 22 overall...
A year and change ago, Jayden Quaintance was a 17-year-old playing college basketball. He only went to Arizona State because he was not yet eligible to declare for the NBA Draft, and he blocked more than five shots per 100 possessions as a full-time starter.
Quaintance is an incredible athlete at 6-foot-10.25 and 253 pounds, but upon transferring to Kentucky he was severely limited by injuries, only logging five appearances. And, as more and more whispers emerge from draft circles, Quaintance falling down boards has become somewhat of a public expectation.
That puts Quaintance into the Sixers' range, and while some will naturally bristle at the thought of this team drafting a player with a medical red flag, he could be the exact sort of player many have desired: a rim-running, shot-blocking backup big who can grow into the future with Maxey and Edgecombe.
Arizona State Jayden Quaintance pic.twitter.com/f8s5URHwiI
— Pitless (@pitlessball) March 24, 2026
Every year, at least one prospect experiences a dramatic slide. Quaintance, once projected to go in the top 10, seems to be the favorite to be that player this year.
Most draft experts seem to agree when it comes to how this year's class stacks up versus others – not just in terms of its high-caliber grouping of prospects at the top, but in terms of its depth. A sentiment that made the rounds when the Sixers acquired their 2026 first-rounder from Oklahoma City via the Houston Rockets: a pick in the mid-20s in this draft could be as valuable as a pick in the back end of most lotteries.
And, after a slew of players predictably elected to return to school and receive lucrative NIL deals, the depth of the class took somewhat of a hit. But most still seem to believe the major dip in talent in this class does not happen until the mid-to-late 20s, which should theoretically ensure the Sixers land a high-quality prospect (assuming they have the same evaluation of the class).
If the Sixers see this class as being a bit deeper than others do – or they end up on the clock at No. 22 overall and still see several prospects they would be comfortable selecting on the board – they should have no trouble finding a trade-down partner.
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported last week that the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics, selecting at No. 26 and No. 27 respectively, are both looking to move up the board. If the Sixers end up being comfortable with the prospects they could take even later in the first round, moving down could enable them to add an extra asset or two and save some money on the rookie scale.
MORE: Asking experts which prospect Sixers should draft at No. 22
And, since this has to be mentioned somewhere, Gansey's first trip to Citizens Bank Park was an interesting one. Gansey and head coach Nick Nurse were part of a Sixers contingent in attendance for a Phillies game last week, when Gansey committed a baseball sin:
Sixers new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey just jinxed Jesus Luzardo's no hit bid on the Phillies broadcast💀 pic.twitter.com/bMnsPFBg2K
— Drew Peltzman (@dapeltz13) June 16, 2026
All was fine for Jesús Luzardo, who still cruised through seven innings of two-run ball to lower his ERA to a season-low 4.20. The next day, Gansey acknowledged his miscue:
won’t happen again 😂 @Phillies pic.twitter.com/2Jc4h8CGF9
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) June 17, 2026
MORE: Gansey, Bob Myers, Jameer Nelson take center stage
