The 76ers knew going into last season that they would not be very good. The reward for not being any good; a high draft pick. With that high draft pick, the 76ers know exactly who they want; Andrew Wiggins.
The 76ers hold the 3rd and 10th picks in the draft. With that 3rd overall pick, they hope that Andrew Wiggins will fall to them. That hope might not be good enough for the 76ers, who are trying to trade their 3rd overall pick and Thaddeus Young to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the number one overall pick.
Wiggins would be a major upgrade at small forward. With the pick of Wiggins, the Sixers are looking to complete their “Big 3”, albeit a young one. The core of Carter-Williams, Wiggins and Noel is one that would be very competitive down the road.
That option seems to have gone up in smoke with the latest development around Joel Embiid. Embiid has a stress fracture in his foot and he has fallen in most mock drafts. This means Cleveland will more than likely take Andrew Wiggins with the first pick in the draft. With that said, most mock drafts have Philadelphia picking Dante Exum at number three. He provides another big guard who can score from anywhere on the floor. A combo of him and Michael Carter-Williams would be a force in the NBA for years to come.
The Sixers also hold the 10th overall pick. Some of the latest mock drafts have Philadelphia taking Dario Saric out of Croatia at ten. Saric can score at will in the post and has pretty good upside. He has the potential to be a good starter at the power forward position. His downside is his athleticism. He is considered a ‘point forward’, but does not have the foot speed to guard other point forwards.
On top of the potential huge win for the 76ers on draft day, they also have loads of salary cap space to fall back on. Their biggest contract at the moment is Thaddeus Young, who is making roughly 8 million a year. With all that cap room, the 76ers could certainly make a big signing this offseason to go along with their draft picks.
The future is bright for the 76ers barring injury. It may take a few years for all of these young players to develop chemistry, but give them two or three years and they will be serious contenders in the east.
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