Who the NBA teams should pick through the top 20

[Mr October]

Make your opinion of who each team should pick in the draft, barring trades. Repeat: no trades for the sake of this discussion.

1. CLE - Parker moves into this spot since The Cavs need a sure thing to get their team back to winning. Embiid was a lock until the foot injury.
2. MIL - Wiggins.
3. PHI - Embiid. These top three guys still go top three in some order. That's a lock. There is a big drop after these guys.
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4. ORL - Exum
5. UTA - Vonleh
6. BOS - Gordon
7. LAL - Randle
8. SAC - Smart
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9. CHA - Stauskas
10. PHI - Harris
11. DEN - Young
12. ORL - Saric
13. MIN - McDermott
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14. PHO - Nurkic
15. ATL - Ennis
16. CHI - Payton
17. BOS - Anderson
18. PHO - Warren
19. CHI - Hood
20. TOR - Payne

Capela, Lavine, Hairston are right on the edge of the top 20

Most of my picks haven't changes much in the last 3 months. Vonleh, Gordon, Randle remain super hard to order.

[Rondo9]

I doubt that the Sixers draft Embiid that high.......

[Mr October]

I doubt that the Sixers draft Embiid that high.......

Who do the Sixers pick instead?

They are planning to tank again next year. They will have no problem letting Embiid recover slowly. Embiid's upside is so high, that you cant let him slide out of the top 3. His skill and size are far superior to the other bigs in this draft, and 4 years from now i expect him to be a top 5 center in the NBA, and top 10 at worst if healthy.

[Rondo9]

I doubt that the Sixers draft Embiid that high.......

Who do the Sixers pick instead?

They are planning to tank again next year. They will have no problem letting Embiid recover slowly. Embiid's upside is so high, that you cant let him slide out of the top 3. His skill and size are far superior to the other bigs in this draft, and 4 years from now i expect him to be a top 5 center in the NBA, and top 10 at worst if healthy.

They would draft Exum I think, much safer and he MCW would be a potentially potent backcourt. I don't think Philly takes another risk with another big man raddled with injuries and besides Noel plays best when he plays the center position.

[rondohondo]

Noel and Embiid starting for Philly would probably be the best defensive front court in the NBA if they can stay relatively healthy . Not sure about it from a floor spacing aspect, but you can always trade one later one once their value rises .

[celticsclay]

Make your opinion of who each team should pick in the draft, barring trades. Repeat: no trades for the sake of this discussion.

1. CLE - Parker moves into this spot since The Cavs need a sure thing to get their team back to winning. Embiid was a lock until the foot injury.
2. MIL - Wiggins.
3. PHI - Embiid. These top three guys still go top three in some order. That's a lock. There is a big drop after these guys.
-------------
4. ORL - Exum
5. UTA - Vonleh
6. BOS - Gordon
7. LAL - Randle
8. SAC - Smart
--------------
9. CHA - Stauskas
10. PHI - Harris
11. DEN - Young
12. ORL - Saric
13. MIN - McDermott
---------------
14. PHO - Nurkic
15. ATL - Ennis
16. CHI - Payton
17. BOS - Anderson
18. PHO - Warren
19. CHI - Hood
20. TOR - Payne

Capela, Lavine, Hairston are right on the edge of the top 20

Most of my picks haven't changes much in the last 3 months. Vonleh, Gordon, Randle remain super hard to order.

if there is one team i think most people would agree would not touch saric, it is Orlando. How in the world could they possibly pull the trigger on a euro player that may stay overseas after the fran vasquez fiasco

[Mr October]

if there is one team i think most people would agree would not touch saric, it is Orlando. How in the world could they possibly pull the trigger on a euro player that may stay overseas after the fran vasquez fiasco

With Orlando holding 2 lottery picks, they have the freedom to make a reach with that number 12 pick. I would take a chance on Saric if I were them. He is a top 10 talent. Who do you think teams should pick through the top 20, or just through the lottery?

McDermott would be a nice alternative at 12. In that case Minnesota probably should take Ennis, and Phoenix should grab Saric.

[Mr October]

I doubt that the Sixers draft Embiid that high.......

Who do the Sixers pick instead?

They are planning to tank again next year. They will have no problem letting Embiid recover slowly. Embiid's upside is so high, that you cant let him slide out of the top 3. His skill and size are far superior to the other bigs in this draft, and 4 years from now i expect him to be a top 5 center in the NBA, and top 10 at worst if healthy.

They would draft Exum I think, much safer and he MCW would be a potentially potent backcourt. I don't think Philly takes another risk with another big man raddled with injuries and besides Noel plays best when he plays the center position.

Exum would be an interesting choice, even if he just becomes Deven Harris 2.0. Their backcourt wouldn't shoot well but they are all about grabbing raw tanking talent these days. How far do you think Embiid should slide then?

If i am Philly i take best player available. Let the Noel/Embiid dynamic work itself out over the next year or 2. Both should be very tradeable anytime.

[Rondo9]

I doubt that the Sixers draft Embiid that high.......

Who do the Sixers pick instead?

They are planning to tank again next year. They will have no problem letting Embiid recover slowly. Embiid's upside is so high, that you cant let him slide out of the top 3. His skill and size are far superior to the other bigs in this draft, and 4 years from now i expect him to be a top 5 center in the NBA, and top 10 at worst if healthy.

They would draft Exum I think, much safer and he MCW would be a potentially potent backcourt. I don't think Philly takes another risk with another big man raddled with injuries and besides Noel plays best when he plays the center position.

Exum would be an interesting choice, even if he just becomes Deven Harris 2.0. Their backcourt wouldn't shoot well but they are all about grabbing raw tanking talent these days. How far do you think Embiid should slide then?

If i am Philly i take best player available. Let the Noel/Embiid dynamic work itself out over the next year or 2. Both should be very tradeable anytime.

I think Embiid slips to the 4-6 range in the draft, no way he goes below 6. I just think that Embiid is a huge risk for Philly to take at number 3.

[celticsclay]

At the end of the day, none of us really know, so good effort making a starting point for discussions.

 An interesting line of questioning is whether Philadelphia could afford to take Embiid for their fanbase and possible future implications for the standing in the league. They saw a pretty huge drop in attendance last season losing over 100k fans and dropping from 17th to 29th in attendance. I would imagine an even bigger drop in their ratings on local television.

They also were a bit of a black eye for the league routinely losing by over 30 points and trading away any NBA veteran they had and fielding a team of d-leagues plus thad young and mcw at seasons end.

Now you say they should take a guy that will miss part of the season (maybe more) and essentially tank again? I think this has a negative financial impact on their team and the NBA could potentially get involved for violating the spirit of the collective bargaining agreement. Basically, the NBA does revenue sharing under the premise that teams are going to try and field a competitive team. If I understand correctly, teams actually get revenue for other teams and can offset attendance problems in the small markets. Philadelphia is not a small market like Milwaulkee. If the 76ers stay at the salary floor and take injured players in back to back drafts, I think some owners may feel this is a way of circumventing revenue sharing. Any thoughts?

[Mr October]

At the end of the day, none of us really know, so good effort making a starting point for discussions.

 An interesting line of questioning is whether Philadelphia could afford to take Embiid for their fanbase and possible future implications for the standing in the league. They saw a pretty huge drop in attendance last season losing over 100k fans and dropping from 17th to 29th in attendance. I would imagine an even bigger drop in their ratings on local television.

They also were a bit of a black eye for the league routinely losing by over 30 points and trading away any NBA veteran they had and fielding a team of d-leagues plus thad young and mcw at seasons end.

Now you say they should take a guy that will miss part of the season (maybe more) and essentially tank again? I think this has a negative financial impact on their team and the NBA could potentially get involved for violating the spirit of the collective bargaining agreement. Basically, the NBA does revenue sharing under the premise that teams are going to try and field a competitive team. If I understand correctly, teams actually get revenue for other teams and can offset attendance problems in the small markets. Philadelphia is not a small market like Milwaulkee. If the 76ers stay at the salary floor and take injured players in back to back drafts, I think some owners may feel this is a way of circumventing revenue sharing. Any thoughts?

I dont think the NBA intervenes. The Sixers would just be doing what the Clippers had done for 3 decades, or what any other bottom dweller has done, while loosing 55+ games for multiple years in a row in the name of rebuilding and going young.

In order to boost attendance, it is critical that the Sixers fans have the opportunity to at least get exited about a healthy Nerlens Noel. If he is remotely questionable, the Sixers need to stay away from Embiid.

Embiid might return a couple months into the season as well.

If I am Cleveland, I actually still consider Embiid at number 1 as well. I dont see any of that top 3 dropping past Philly at number 3, at least in terms of what a team should do.

[celticsclay]

I agree it is ulikeley the NBA would intervene. However, taking players in the very top of the lottery in back to back years that were likely to miss the majority of the season has also never happened. Add that on to historic losing and people will be upset. Wiggins or Parker or Exum would be much safer for getting some fans in the seats, which they sorely need.

[Celtics4ever]

I, for one, would be happy with Gordon and Anderson if we don't make a trade.