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Lucky No. 2 or Snake-Eyes for the Philadelphia 76ers?

B-Dub Written by B-Dub, Wednesday May 19 2010
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The Philadelphia 76ers haven't been good for the last decade.  To matters worse, they haven't been terrible either.  Unfortunately, the only way to become great in the NBA is to become really bad first.  That way you can get a high draft pick and possibly get lucky.
 
Well the Sixers actually got lucky on Tuesday night in the NBA Draft Lottery.  They had the sixth worst record in the NBA, but managed to defy the odds and land the second overall pick in the NBA Draft on June 24th.  They only had a 6.03 percent chance of the ping-pong balls falling just right and granting them the second pick, but that's just what happened.  The question now becomes, have they used up all of their luck?
 
Sure getting the second pick is great for a franchise that has been mired in mediocrity for the last decade, but that doesn't matter if they don't draft the right player with that pick.  I'm here to tell you that the right pick is Ohio State shooting guard Evan Turner.
 
I don't care what anybody says leading up to the draft.  The Washington Wizards will select Kentucky point guard John Wall first overall.  I don't care if they already have Gilbert Arenas.  Arenas was basically thrown off the team last year after that little "Wild West" scene he re-enacted in the locker room, so the Wizards will find some way to rid themselves of him.  The Wizards got lucky themselves by moving up from the fifth spot to land the top pick.  The New Jersey Nets and their new owner, who is rumored to have become a billionaire by running a prostitution ring in Russia, had the best odds at the top pick by having the worst record last year, but had to settle for the third pick. 
 
So that leaves the Sixers with either Turner, who was the consensus college player of the year, or a big man.  Kansas center Cole Aldrich is a consideration, but the biggest need on the Sixers is for a shooting guard.  At 6-7, Turner might just be the best all-around player in this draft.
 
The Sixers struggled last season without a true shooting guard.  Andre Igoudala is a good player, but he is a small forward.  He isn't a good enough outside shooter to play at the two-guard spot.  Last year proved that conclusively.
 
Turner averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and six assists last season for the Buckeyes.  He was moved to point guard, a position he never played before, by coach Thad Matta out of necessity before the season.  He was great even at an unfamiliar position.  Going back to his normal position with the Sixers, who have Jrue Holiday at point guard, will make him even better. 
 
With Holiday and Turner in the backcourt, Igoudala can go back to his more natural small forward position.  Then the starting lineup will be rounded out by Elton Brand and his untradeable contract at power forward and Samuel Dalembert at center.  The Sixers can then bring Thaddeus Young and Marreese Speights off the bench.  That's not a championship roster, but it's young except for Dalembert and Brand, so they can grow together.  Hey, I'm grasping at straws here.  Let me dream.
 
The only thing that can possibly torpedo the Sixers' chances of a franchise revival is blowing the pick.  I know what you're thinking; not even the Sixers can blow this one.  You would think so, but then you remember this is the Sixers we're talking about.
 
Media giant Comcast owns the Sixers, but they don't give a crap about the team.  They just bought it for programming.  Comcast owns both the Sixers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.  Ed Snider, who sold his controlling interest in the Flyers to Comcast, is the chairman of both teams now.  Obviously he only cares about the Flyers and the Sixers have suffered like a red-headed step-child because of it.  If you want to know who is to blame for the sad state of the Sixers franchise, it's Snider.
 
Sixers' GM Ed Stefanski just fired his second coach at the end of the season and he's only been on the job two years himself.  And Stefanski is rumored to be the next one out the door even though he is being allowed to interview half of the population of Philadelphia for the vacant head-coaching job.  The franchise is dysfunctional to say the least.
 
And then there is the little matter of the Sixers' abysmal draft history.  The Sixers have had the second pick twice since the NBA starting using the lottery.  In 1997 they drafted Keith Van Horn, which was bad but not terrible.  He didn't want to play for the team, so he had to be traded for next to nothing, but that isn't even the worst second pick in Sixers' history.  That distinction would belong to the infamous Shawn Bradley pick in 1993.  Oh God, now I'm depressed.
 
I don't see a mega-stiff like Bradley in this draft, but who knows.  The Sixers could even try to outsmart themselves by trading the pick.  Hey, maybe somebody will offer them Roy Hinson (Google that trade if you're not familiar with the reference).
 
In my opinion the road back to respectability for the Sixers starts with drafting Evan Turner.  He is an unquestioned talent and he plays a position that is a glaring need for the team.  It's so simple, right?  Then why am I nervous?


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