We continue our look back at past NBA re-drafts, and for the Philadelphia 76ers, see if there are any differences for the Sixers with their slotted pick. This edition takes us back to 2008 when Philadelphia held the 16th pick after a surprising run to the playoffs.
The Sixers had a bit of 180 in terms of their offseason plans. Philadelphia was not expecting to make the playoffs in 2008 after trading franchise icon Allen Iverson to the Denver Nuggets in the season before. So, instead of a lottery pick, they had to settle for a mid-round selection and they took Marreese Speights from Florida who had a solid career, but nothing spectacular.
A re-draft put out by Bleacher Report has the Sixers selecting Standford big man Robin Lopez at 16.
Though his career average of 5.1 rebounds per game underwhelms for a center, Lopez’s teams have almost always done better defensive boardwork with him on the floor. There aren’t many better box-out technicians, and Lopez extends that team-first approach to sound positional defense in the lane.
Though not a scorer by trade, Lopez’s funky hook shot gives his game character. And his ongoing feud with mascots across the league offers a glimpse of a fun-loving side you wouldn’t expect from a grind-it-out worker who’s been an in-demand starter and backup big for a dozen years.
Lopez has had a really solid career. He was a starter in the Western Conference Finals for the Phoenix Suns in his second season and he has been a consistent starter for the large majority of his career. He now backs up his brother, Brook, for the Milwaukee Bucks. He would have been a better fit for those Sixers teams, but they liked Samuel Dalembert too much at the time.
As for Speights, he averaged 7.2 points and 3.7 rebounds during his time with the Sixers and he won a ring with the Golden State Warriors in 2015 where he had the nickname “Mo Buckets”. He was better off as a stretch 4 when he figured that out later in his career. [lawrence-related id=29726,29720,29711]