The Philadelphia 76ers have the No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft, and there has been a lot of clutter to sort through as to their plans with the pick. Here are three rumors you need to know:
D'Angelo Russell Denies Rumors He Doesn't Want To Play For Philadelphia
D’Angelo Russell denied a recent report in the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t want to be drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers:
“The workout [with the Sixers] was great,” Russell said. “What guy wouldn’t want to play for any NBA team? I [saw] Fran Fraschilla Tweet 95 percent of the Tweets this week are just a misdirection, and starting with that one. I never would say anything like that. I know what I’ve come from and I know what I’ve been through and it would just be a blessing to play in the NBA.”
Joel Embiid Injury Putting Kristaps Porzingis In Play At #3?
Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid’s recent injury setback has many draft pundits thinking big with Philly’s #3 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
One name on the radar? Rising international sensation Kristaps Porzingis. Here’sSam Vecenie of CBS Sports with his thoughts on the potential fit:
I think Porzingis was already in play for them, to be honest. Hinkie has been over to Seville to see him play multiple times, and was at the workout in Las Vegas longer than any other general manager to watch and speak with him.
Under Hinkie, the 76ers have defaulted to the best player in the draft with the highest upside. His goal is to find a superstar, then build around that player. If Hinkie believes Porzingis to be that potential superstar, I don’t think he’ll really look at the roster and draft for need. He’ll take Porzingis, and live with the result.
Having said those things, I will mention that I think Porzingis would be an excellent fit with Embiid in general. Embiid could utilize his terrific post skills and traditional rim protection/rebounding, while Porzingis spaces the floor, moves well laterally on the perimeter to shut off penetration, and protects the weak side of the rim. The two players complement each other really well. Now, there’s still the matter of Nerlens Noel being in town, but one would have to think that if both Embiid and Porzingis do work out to the best of their potentials, they’d be able to find a great landing spot for Noel due to his age and defensive skill.
Philadelphia Deciding Between 3 Prospects With Third Pick
Porzingis is one of three prospects the Sixers are considering with their pick, according to ESPN’s Chad Ford:
I’ve been writing for the past few months that the Sixers like Mudiay and still believe they do. And for the past few weeks I’ve been writing that the team is very high on Porzinigs. So yes, Russell is no slam dunk there if he’s on the board at 3. As for Hezonja,I don’t think he’s in the mix at 3. I’d say Porzinigs, Mudiay or Russell.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor are expected to be the top two picks in the draft, but if one of them were to fall to the Sixers at No. 3, Philadelphia will likely take them over Russell, Mudiay, and Porzingis.
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