Check out the original article from Philly.com, here.
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Less than two months removed from the highly-hyped 2014 NBA
draft, ESPN has already released their first 2015 Mock Draft.
“It’s way too early
for a mock,” you may say to yourself, but as Chad Ford points out, interest
in the 2015 Draft is already high among NBA executives, scouts, and front
offices.
It is beyond safe to assume that Sam Hinkie is already familiar
with some of the ’15 prospects, and considering the reports of the Sixers’
opposition to proposed lottery changes, it seems that the 2015 Draft is at the
forefront of the franchise’s agenda.
To come up with their order for their too-early mock draft, ESPN’s
panel of writers and editors predicted the odds of each team taking home the
title, and then reversed those odds.
This approach landed the 76ers in the top selection spot. From
ESPN:
“The Sixers finished with the second-worst
record in the league last year and have done little to help their cause in
2014-15. They drafted two players who likely won’t play for them this season,
and have done little in free agency. Nerlens Noel will be the big addition to
the team. So while the odds are heavily in the SIxers’ favor to land the No. 1
pick, this draft will do little to help their team needs.”
Okafor image from fiba.com |
The ’15 Draft doing little to help the team needs is in reference
to the fact that the several of top prospects of the draft are frontcourt
players; an area the Sixers have already solidified with the selections of
Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid.
ESPN’s mock sees the Sixers selecting 6’11’’ center Jahlil
Okafor, who will be hitting the hardwood for Duke this coming college season.
The problem with such a selection however, is that the Sixers spent the past
two drafts selecting centers. Again from ESPN:
“The team has two young centers in Noel and
Embiid. But Okafor is the consensus No. 1 pick right now and with the exception
of Emmanuel Muliday, all of the other top prospects are bigs as well. While
Okafor is different than Noel and Embiid – the Duke freshman is an old-school,
back-to-the-basket, below-the-rim post beast – he could create a log jam
considering Philly’s roster. But for GM Sam Hinkie, assets are the key right
now and Okafor appears to be the most valuable asset in the draft.”
Mocks and player positioning will change countless times
leading up to next June, so the projection of Okafor to the Sixers, which is
far from set in stone, is not worth getting too hung up on at this point. The
larger takeaway from ESPN’s first mock draft is that the Sixers are in for
another struggle of a season, and that many feel that they will be in excellent
position again to add assets come draft day.
That is unless of course the NBA changes around the lottery
system in response to the Sixers’ scheme.
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