Philadelphia 76ers draft history suggests they should trade 3rd overall pick

Philadelphia 76ers lottery picks rarely translate to star-level players

Over the last 20 years, the Philadelphia 76ers have made the following selections when picking within the top 14 of the NBA Draft.

Of these selections, few achieved long-term success with the franchise. Andre Iguodala became an All-Star in his final season before leaving the team, eventually winning four championships and a Finals MVP with the Golden State Warriors.

Thaddeus Young never amounted to being more than a role player. Same goes for Evan Turner, whom the 76ers picked over the likes of Paul George (who plays for them now) and DeMar DeRozan.

Michael Carter-Williams surprisingly won the Rookie of the Year award, but didn’t progress beyond that. Jahlil Okafor had a decent first year with All-Rookie team honors, but never lived up to his potential.

Ben Simmons started his career strong with a Rookie of the Year win and multiple All-Star and All-NBA nods. But after 2021, he forced his way out of the team as his level of play dipped to that of a role player.

Markelle Fultz is widely considered one of the worst first overall picks in the NBA Draft. What makes this pick even more painful is that the 76ers traded up for Fultz and gave up the pick that the Celtics used to land Jayson Tatum.

Joel Embiid remains the one major exception, as he went on to become a superstar and an MVP years later, and is still one of the best players in the NBA when healthy.

Philadelphia 76ers brilliant at picking outside of lottery

This lack of fortune when it comes to their lottery selections is only contrasted by the Philadelphia 76ers’ picks outside of the NBA lottery.

Here are some of the notable selections the 76ers have made outside of the top 14 that went on to become successful NBA stars:

Many of these players went on to find success in the NBA, or at least find themselves still playing today. However, not all of them found success with the 76ers.

Jrue Holiday became an All-Star in Philadelphia, but left via a trade the very same year. Nikola Vucevic also found success after the 76ers traded him.

The best picks out of the lot, at least so far, are Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain. Maxey proved to be one of the surprise star turnouts from the 2020 NBA Draft Class, and is an All-Star caliber player.

As for Jared McCain, he was on pace to win the Rookie of the Year award this season, but a devastating injury cut his season short.

Maxey and McCain will be the backbone of the 76ers organization for years to come.

Daryl Morey should try and look for trade partners

With the third overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, the 76ers could address a lot of the problems on their roster.

Many of the players the 76ers could select with the third overall pick – Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, and Jeremiah Fears – take up positions that they have filled.

Instead, the 76ers could find a trade partner with cap space to eat up Paul George’s massive contract in exchange for the pick.

This will open up cap space for the 76ers to make some big trades to pair a third, preferably inexpensive star alongside Embiid and Maxey.

76ers President Daryl Morey has always preferred to land big stars, having traded for James Harden (twice in his career), Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and Russell Westbrook.

Why not do the same while giving up a valuable pick, but one that would bring in a player the 76ers can’t realistically develop into a star on their current timeline?