Pondering how to elevate the Sixers has become an annual offseason tradition
The Sixers could potentially change their fortunes by getting the No. 3 pick right in next month's NBA draft.
A year ago, the seating area between the bar and coffee shop on the ground floor inside the Marriott Marquis hotel in Chicago was abuzz with people wondering about the next step for the 76ers.
The team had the 16th pick in the 2024 draft and a plethora of cap space available to pursue Paul George and others during that summer’s free-agency period. They would remain in the spotlight after using the pick to select Jared McCain and securing George with a four-year, $212 million contract.
Last week, in the same hotel and the adjoining Wintrust Arena, people were, once again, pondering what‘s next for the Sixers.
Being in the spotlight during this time of year is fairly status quo for them … and not just for positive reasons.
» READ MORE: Sixers mailbag: Best fit for the No. 3 pick, realistic Joel Embiid expectations and more
Two summers ago, the hiring of Nick Nurse as coach was overshadowed by James Harden‘s refusal to play for Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations.
And in the summer of 2021, the team made headlines when Ben Simmons demanded a trade.
But the Sixers are in the spotlight this summer because their luck in Monday’s NBA draft lottery can help erase some of the missteps of seasons past.
The Sixers were awarded the No. 3 selection in June’s draft despite having just a 10.6% chance of getting the pick. Had the Sixers’ pick fallen out of the top six, they would have lost it to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a condition of the 2020 Al Horford trade.
The initial reaction was that the Sixers would use the pick to select Rutgers forward Ace Bailey over Baylor wing VJ Edgecombe. Duke forward Cooper Flagg and Rutgers point guard Dylan Harper are expected to be off the board.
The Dallas Mavericks intend to select Flagg first overall, while the San Antonio Spurs are expected to select Harper.
I‘ve stated that if that happens, Bailey would be the Sixers’ best option. And it appears that I‘m not alone.
“I think he has big-time potential,” George said recently in an episode of Podcast P with Paul George. “He has big-time talent. He can score from any spot on the floor. He has an isolation game, which you don’t see that often in kids that size that early. He can make plays ... If there were no Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey would have been an even bigger name that people would have been talking about in this draft.
“I love his upside, man. I‘ve been a fan of his game for a little while now. I think he’s going to be huge in the league. He’s definitely going to come into the league and people think it might take him a minute based off of his skill set. But I think he’s going to come into the league and make noise right away.”
» READ MORE: If Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper are off the board, Ace Bailey is the Sixers’ best option
This isn’t the first time George has praised the 18-year-old, who’s listed at 6-foot-10 and 203 pounds.
During a February episode of his podcast, the Sixers forward said he would take Bailey over Flagg with the No. 1 pick.
“I think Ace Bailey is a little bit more raw talent with still a ton of upside,” George said. “I think Cooper Flagg, not to say he doesn’t have upside, he has amazing upside as well. But I think Ace Bailey has a little bit more upside to him. I think Ace Bailey can scratch a little bit more off of his surface than Cooper Flagg can. I think both will be All-Stars, both will be superstars once they develop and get to the NBA.
“I think both will be superstars. I think those two will definitely be the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird comparison in terms of similar body types and the parity between those two. But I‘m going to go with Ace Bailey.”
The Sixers also have the 35th pick in this summer’s draft after they traded Caleb Martin and a 2030 second-rounder to the Dallas Mavericks in February. In exchange, they reacquired June’s second-rounder along with Quentin Grimes.
Speaking last week on the Takeoff with John Clark podcast, Morey said the Sixers will keep and use their No. 3 pick.
“Yeah, our plan is to pick this pick, yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think the top few, top three, four, you could argue, five maybe; I mean there’s good players in this draft.”
Morey went on to say, “the top of this draft, I think, I would say I was very fortunate to start my career in the 2003 draft [headlined by LeBron James and Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade], which some argue is the best draft of all time. But I think it‘s in the top five of high quality in the top of the draft in my career.”
That comment is one reason to believe the Sixers will weigh every option in the months leading up to the draft, despite Morey stating they would keep the pick.
They could attempt to trade it, a player, possibly their second-rounder, and/or a future pick in a package that delivers an impactful, A-list veteran in return. The Sixers could also opt to trade down in the draft to lower the cap hit of their first-round pick.
A league scout told The Inquirer he believes Edgecombe, a 6-5 guard, and 6-6 Texas guard Tre Johnson could be better than Bailey. If the Sixers agree, they could slide back a few slots in the draft to get additional assets while taking Edgecombe or Johnson.
The scout believes that after Flagg and Harper, the next three or four guys are basically the same. If he were Morey, the scout said he would see if the Charlotte Hornets (with the fourth pick) or Utah Jazz (fifth) want to move up.
» READ MORE: Will Daryl Morey save his job and trade the No. 3 pick, or do the right thing and invest in the Sixers’ future?
Whatever the Sixers decide, they will do so with the hope of ending the annual offseason questions about their next move inside the Marquis during the draft combine.
Instead, the Sixers’ brass would love to be congratulated in Chicago for advancing to what would mark their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2001.