With the 2024 NBA draft approaching quickly–Round 1 of the draft is set for June 26–now is the time to look back at some of the previous draft picks the Philadelphia 76ers have made in recent years.
Entering the 2016 NBA draft, the Sixers were coming off a tough 10-72 season which earned them the No. 1 pick in the draft. The lottery luck earned them the right to land LSU star Ben Simmons to add to Joel Embiid as Philadelphia continued to grow its young core.
While Embiid was able to finally play in the 2016-17 season after missing two seasons, Simmons missed the entirety of his rookie season. He made his debut in the 2017-18 season and averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks on his way to winning Rookie of the Year and guiding the Sixers to the playoffs.
Simmons then became a 3-time All-Star and was named to the All-Defensive Team twice while also being named an All-NBA Team member in 2020. He was absolutely phenomenal during his time with the Sixers outside of not developing a jumper.
Unfortunately, things went sour after the 2021 playoffs. Simmons and the Sixers were eliminated in Game 7 of the semifinals by the Atlanta Hawks and he asked for a trade. After a long first half of the season where he didn’t play at all, Simmons was sent to the Brooklyn Nets in the big James Harden deal at the 2022 deadline.
Simmons has played only 57 games across 2.5 seasons with the Nets due to an unfortunate back injury as he has had to battle through some pain in Brooklyn.
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