The Philadelphia 76ers are getting set for what promises to be an interesting draft night on Wednesday. They have the 21st pick in the draft after having the pick convey from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and there are plenty of options.
In order to prepare for this draft, they have had to lean a lot more on their scouting department. They have needed to lean more on them to make sure general manager Elton Brand and new President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey will be able to figure it out in an interesting draft year.
So, what exactly is the team’s focus in this draft? Is it shooting? Are they looking specifically for somebody to fill their needs right now or are they looking for a trade?
Just like in 2019 when they selected Matisse Thybulle and Marial Shayok, it comes down to who has the staying power to stay in the league and not necessarily anything specific.
“I think when you look back at last year, we ended up with Matisse and Mar, I don’t think there was a specific target for a perimeter defender,” said VP of Scouting Vince Rozman. “I think if we didn’t get Matisse, we probably would’ve ended up with somebody that had a much different profile. Our primary focus is [to] get guys that can 1, 2, 3 years down the road are still in the league and useful. Whatever skill they’re providing, they’re somebody we can put on the court and contribute as our primary focus.”
The 2020 draft has been considered weak by some prognosticators. However, if the Sixers can find what they’re looking for at No. 21, then they can probably walk away feeling they had themselves a solid draft.
“Usually when you look back at drafts outside of those top few picks that really dictate whether a draft was good or not, it’s a little bit of the eye of the beholder,” Rozman added. “If you’re in the teens and you want to find a big or a wing or a guard or scorer or perimeter defender or whatnot, I think you can kind of lean toward whichever direction you want. I think this draft is pretty similar. It provides a lot of different options at a lot of different positions or a lot of different archetypes. If you value one, you probably view that as the strength of this draft.”
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