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The Philadelphia 76ers have been blessed with a Round 1 draft pick in the 2020 draft and they cannot waste this opportunity. The Sixers have a few needs and they can either fill one with this pick or they can trade it in order to get a win-now type of player.
Nonetheless, with the 21st pick, there are some options. They can look at a shooter, they can also look at a point guard, or they can also look at some bench scoring.
In a mock draft performed by NBC Sports, they go the bench scoring route in the form of Maryland big man Jalen Smith.
NBC:
Philly has one of the best starting fives in the NBA. They also have one of the worst second units. They can go in a lot of different directions at this point in the draft. They need a big to fill in when Joel Embiid goes down.
There should be plenty of changes coming after another flame out for the Sixers in the playoffs. Depth is a huge issue and so is the salary cap. Smith has worked hard to improve his game. He’s added 3-point shooting, improved his rebounding and block numbers and made himself into a prospect. He’s starting to climb draft boards and he might work as a budget big for a team that needs a lot of help.
Smith finished up his sophomore season averaging 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds and he shot 36.8% from deep with the Terrapins. That is exactly what Philadelphia needs off their bench. Too many times did the bench unit not do their job and the Sixers struggled on most nights because of it. A guy like Smith would fill that need. [lawrence-related id=37487,37483,37474]