Sixers were reportedly hoping to draft D'Angelo Russell

By foxsports
Published

The Sixers had the third overall pick in this summer's NBA Draft, and after dealing a reigning Rookie of the Year in Michael Carter-Williams at the trade deadline, they were hoping to grab a point guard to replace him.

It seemed as though D'Angelo Russell would be there for the taking, because conventional wisdom said that the Lakers, sitting at No. 2, would simply grab whichever of the two stellar big men were on the board after the Timberwolves selected Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor with the first overall pick. 

But once Towns was gone, the Lakers mildly surprised by selecting Russell. That left Philadelphia no choice but to snag Okafor, who should be more than a fine selection, and may end up being the once-in-a-generation post scorer that many have projected.

But with Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel already on the roster, adding another young big who would need minutes to develop was less than ideal. NBA.com's David Aldridge reporting that the Sixers had indeed hoped to draft Russell, then, makes a whole lot of sense.

"The Sixers were hoping to take D'Angelo Russell with the third pick, but when the Lakers scotched those plans, Philly had to "settle" for Okafor, the consenus first-team All-American as a freshman for Duke who many had pegged as the first overall pick. By far the best big man Philly's had since this, uh, rebuild began, Okafor will improve the looks of a team that was sixth in three-point attempts last season, but just 11th in 3-pointers made. Stauskas, who shot a decent 37 percent on threes in his rookie season playing off of All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, should do better with copious minutes at the two. Philly can only hope that Tony Wroten (torn ACL) returns to form at the point after playing just 15 games last season. There isn't much proven talent behind him."

Philadelphia's strong need at point guard is evident, and Russell would have been a terrific fit. But the Lakers had a need there, too, and were able to fill it by simply drafting one spot ahead of the Sixers.