It’s not often that a team with so much talent and promise brings in a new head coach and president but that’s exactly with the Philadelphia 76ers, who were left scrambling for answers after the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
The Sixers, like the rest of the world, have been disconcerted by their ability to amass as much talent as any team in the league but experience only moderate playoff success. Now Philadelphia is wondering whether or not their franchise cornerstones fit well together and what to do if not.
With five picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, the 76ers will have plenty of opportunities to find players that blend in smoothly with their star duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
Related: Full Philadelphia 76ers 2020 Salary Cap Preview
2020 NBA Draft Picks
| No. 21 overall | No. 34 overall | No. 36 overall | No. 49 overall | No. 58 overall |
Sixers Draft Needs
There’s no way that a team with Simmons, Embiid, Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson should finish the season ranked 20th in the league in points per game but that’s what happened in 2019-20. Many believe that the Sixers need a new point guard and it’s hard to argue that point with Simmons preferring to emulate Magic Johnson in a league that has most of their point guards trying to mirror the playstyle of Stephen Curry or Damian Lillard.
The best way to put it: Philly just needs to re-tool and re-arrange their roster.
Moving Simmons to power forward, where he could excel because of his size, ball-handling and athleticism, should be the 76ers’ first order of business. However, that doesn’t mean that he won’t act as the team’s de facto point guard; Simmons will and should be the Philadelphia’s primary facilitator.
As a result, whatever point guard they may select in the first-round — whether they stay still at 21 or try to move up in the draft — can be a scoring-minded player.
Adding scorers to the bench is also a necessity, as the Sixers’ bench ranked 26th in the league in points per game (32.0).
2020 NBA Draft Prospect Watchlist
| No. 21 overall | No. 34 & 36 overall | No. 49 overall | No. 58 overall |
| PG Tyrell Terry, Stanford | PG Tre Jones, Duke | PG Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky | PG Markus Howard, Marquette |
| PG Kira Lewis Jr., Alabama | G-F Elijah Hughes, Syracuse | G Grant Riller, Charleston | PG Yam Madar, Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| PG Theo Maledon, ASVEL | G-F Robert Woodard II, Mississippi St. | G Sam Merrill, Utah State | SF Kenyon Martin Jr., IMG Academy |
| PG Jahmi’us Ramsey, Texas Tech | SG Desmond Bane, Texas Christian | G Skylar Mays, LSU | C Nick Richards, Kentucky |
| PG Malachi Flynn, San Diego St. | C Udoka Azubuike, Kansas | PG Payton Pritchard, Oregon | C Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State |
What The Mocks Are Saying
| The Ringer | Josh Green (No. 21) |
| The Athletic | Desmond Bane (No. 21), Cassius Winston (No. 34), Isaiah Joe (No. 36), Vernon Carey Jr. (No. 49), Josh Hall (No. 58) |
| USA TODAY Sports | Tyrell Terry (No. 21) |
| CBS Sports | Grant Riller (No. 21) |
| The Score | Desmond Bane (No. 21) |
Projected Roster
| PG | Ben Simmons |
| SG | Josh Richardson |
| SG | Matisse Thybulle |
| SG | Shake Milton |
| SG | Zhaire Smith |
| SG | Marial Shayok* |
| G-F | Furkan Korkmaz |
| F | Tobias Harris |
| PF | Mike Scott |
| F-C | Al Horford |
| C | Joel Embiid |
| C | Norvel Pelle |
