We continue with a look back at past drafts for the Philadelphia 76ers, with the help of Bleacher Report, and give them different players instead of the ones they drafted.
Wednesday’s edition takes us back to the 2006 NBA Draft when the Sixers held the 13th pick after a disappointing 2005-06 season. The duo of Allen Iverson and Chris Webber and his bad knees never quite worked out and Philadelphia ended up in the lottery.
With that pick, the Sixers selected Thabo Sefolosha of Switzerland and then flipped him to the Chicago Bulls for the 16th pick which ended up being Rodney Carney of Memphis. Carney had a lot of potential coming out of Memphis, but he lasted only two years in Philadelphia before sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade. He did re-sign with the Sixers as a free agent in 2010, but he then moved on to the Golden State Warriors and he last played for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2011.
Instead of Sefolosha, or depending on your point of view Carney, Bleacher Report is giving the Sixers Ronnie Brewer who earned a reputation as a defender.
B/R:
Absent an outside shot, the springy 6’7″, 220-pound swingman parlayed disruptive defense and above-the-rim finishing into an eight-year NBA career. Six of those campaigns featured playoff runs: three with the Utah Jazz, two with the Chicago Bulls and the last with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Brewer carved out an NBA career that lasted eight years in the league and he averaged 7.8 points and 1.2 steals. His defense would have been welcomed on the 2006-07 Sixers team, but it would not have mattered. Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets after just 15 games and then Webber was waived in January. That team was really doomed from the start. [lawrence-related id=29437,29425,29413]