The Sixers can get some help in Monday’s lottery. History says they’ll squander the opportunity.
It would be easier to be hopeful about the Sixers’ prospects with this draft’s prospects if they had a history of making smart decisions when at the mercy of those pingpong balls.
The NBA will hold its draft lottery Monday, and the event offers the 76ers their best chance, and maybe their only chance, to stop or at least slow their slide into irrelevance.
They remained static for three years — losing in the playoffs’ second round each time — before getting bounced in the first round last year and plummeting down a 24-58 mine shaft this season. If they end up with a draft spot at No. 7 or later, they will have to surrender the pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, courtesy of the Al Horford trade in 2020.
But if they grab one of the top six picks, they’ll have the opportunity to add a young talent at a low cost who could join Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain as reasons to be optimistic (kind of) about the future. Short of finding two teams to take Joel Embiid and Paul George off their hands, the Sixers don’t have many other options to improve — and even fewer ones that are realistic.
Still, it would be easier to be hopeful about the Sixers’ prospects with this draft’s prospects if they had a history of making smart decisions and choices on those occasions they have found themselves at the mercy of all those pingpong balls. For all the chances they’ve had to acquire a franchise-changing player or two, their track record is spotty at best.
1986: The Sixers trade the No. 1 pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Roy Hinson. The Cavaliers select Brad Daugherty.
Verdict: June 17, 1986, remains one of the most infamous days in Sixers history. Not only did they pass up the chance to pick Daugherty (a five-time All-Star over his eight years with the Cavs) for Hinson (who was just ... meh), they also traded Moses Malone to the Washington Bullets. Imagine a frontcourt of Malone, Daugherty, and Charles Barkley. Sigh.
1988: The Sixers select Charles Smith at No. 3, then trade him to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal for the No. 6 pick, Hersey Hawkins.
Verdict: Not a terrible outcome. Hawkins was the starting shooting guard on the Sixers’ 1989-90 Atlantic Division-winning club and an excellent if underrated player here for five years, averaging 19 points and shooting better than 40% from three-point range.
1992: The Sixers select Clarence Weatherspoon at No. 9.
Verdict: An undersized power forward at 6-foot-6 (could the Sixers replicate the success they had with Barkley?), ‘Spoon was productive and workmanlike for his 5½ years here. But he wasn’t anywhere close to being what Chuck had been.
1993: The Sixers select Shawn Bradley at No. 2.
Verdict: A huge miss. With Penny Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn still on the board, the Sixers bet on the 7-6 Bradley to be a dominant shot-blocker and scorer. He was neither.
1994: The Sixers select Sharone Wright at No. 6.
Verdict: Another bad call. The Sixers passed up Temple stars Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie and Fab Fiver Jalen Rose. Wright then spent his summers here getting schooled by a teenage Kobe Bryant in pickup games and was gone, in a trade to Toronto, just after the midway point of the 1995-96 season.
1995: The Sixers select Jerry Stackhouse at No. 3.
Verdict: There were two big problems for the Sixers in taking Stackhouse. One, he was a small forward at North Carolina, and the Sixers tried to make him a shooting guard — which didn’t make sense, given that he wasn’t much of an outside shooter. Two, Philly legend Rasheed Wallace (No. 4) and Kevin Garnett (No. 5) were still on the board.
1996: The Sixers select Allen Iverson at No. 1.
Verdict: Hard to criticize them for this one. That said, as great as he was, Iverson turned out to be the second-best player in this draft behind Bryant, and at the time, the Sixers did have people within their organization who argued that Kobe ought to be the pick.
1997: The Sixers select Keith Van Horn at No. 2, then trade him to the New Jersey Nets for the No. 7 pick, Tim Thomas.
Verdict: Both Van Horn and Thomas had solid, lengthy careers. And while Van Horn (despite the complaints about his finesse, perimeter-oriented style of play) helped the Sixers go 48-34 in 2002-03 after they reacquired him, neither he nor Thomas turned out to be a genuine game-changer in the league.
1998: The Sixers select Larry Hughes at No. 8.
Verdict: Two words: Paul Pierce. If you know, you know.
» READ MORE: Which players did the Sixers tank for? Assessing the best available prospects in the 2025 NBA draft.
2004: The Sixers select Andre Iguodala at No. 9.
Verdict: The right pick based on what was available and an excellent all-around player for the Sixers. Iguodala was never the top-flight scoring threat that the Sixers forced him to be after they traded away Iverson, but he went on to win four championships with the Golden State Warriors and be named the MVP of the 2015 Finals.
2006: The Sixers select Thabo Sefolosha at No. 13, then trade him to the Chicago Bulls for the No. 16 pick, Rodney Carney.
Verdict: Sefolosha lasted 14 years in the NBA, which is more than can be said for Carney, who was out of the league as of 2011.
2007: The Sixers select Thaddeus Young with the No. 12 pick.
Verdict: Terrific, team-oriented guy and solid player. Diet Iguodala.
2010: The Sixers select Evan Turner with the No. 2 pick.
Verdict: Quirky guy who averaged fewer than 10 points over his 10-year career.
2013: The Sixers trade for the No. 6 pick, Nerlens Noel, and select Michael Carter-Williams at No. 11.
Verdict: Ahhh, the beginning of The Process. We were young. We were naive. We used the word assets a lot.
2014: The Sixers select Joel Embiid at No. 3, then select Elfrid Payton at No. 10, who they trade to the Orlando Magic for the No. 12 pick, Dario Saric.
Verdict: A home run (despite all the injuries and drama) and a versatile piece for a decent team, which the Sixers weren’t.
» READ MORE: The Sixers have the best lottery luck in NBA history. They’re hoping it doesn’t run out.
2015: The Sixers select Jahlil Okafor at No. 3.
Verdict: Was tougher on a Boston street corner than in the post.
2016: The Sixers select Ben Simmons at No. 1.
Verdict: … where is that emoji with the green sick face …
2017: The Sixers select Markelle Fultz at No. 1.
Verdict: Do you have any idea how many three-pointers Jayson Tatum would have to miss to justify this pick?
2018: The Sixers select Mikal Bridges at No. 10, then trade him to the Phoenix Suns for the No. 16 pick, Zhaire Smith.
Verdict: … still looking for that green emoji …
Look, Daryl Morey did draft Maxey and McCain, and neither of them was a lottery pick. So maybe Monday night will turn out OK for the Sixers. You just have to forget all this heavy history to believe it.