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2011 NBA Draft

Final Thoughts on the Sixers Draft

Now that we've all had a couple days to digest the events of Thursday night, I'd like to take one last look at what the Sixers did and didn't do, and try to better explain why I'm less than pleased with it. I feel like I haven't done a terrific job getting my disappointment across and there's too much focus on the actual players the Sixers selected rather than the philosophy of the people in the organization that make the decisions.

The Sixers came into the draft with picks #16 and #50 in their pocket, amid rumors of trading up to #2 with a deal centered around polarizing wing Andre Iguodala. They ended up doing nothing but sitting at both of their spots, despite the expected slides of a few unsuspecting prospects. They got a solid role player in Nikola Vucevic and another big body in Lavoy Allen, a haul that isn't apocalyptic considering the lack of "pinch me" talent in the 2011 NBA Draft. No, we can't possibly know what's going to happen with Vucevic and Allen so of course passing judgment here is not the end-all, but since we are in the business of opinions, we're quite at liberty to give them.

Most importantly though, for the 4th straight year, the Sixers did nothing on draft day but make the one or two picks they were slated to make. No moves, no tweaks, no sign of activity to make me think they did anything during the draft except hope the one guy they wanted didn't fall during their Solitaire tournament in the War Room. This philosophical flaw in the minds of our brain trust is keeping the Sixers from maximizing their potential.

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2011 NBA Draft: Top Undrafted Players

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And you thought the draft coverage was over! Pysche! As we all know the Sixers stood pat Thursday night selecting underwhelming big men Nikola Vucevic and Lavoy Allen at picks 16 and 50, respectively. Many of the die-hards were not pleased with the selections, the four writers on this site included. But now that the actual draft is behind us, the next order of business comes in the form of undrafted free agents.

Normally teams snatch up the undrafted free agents fairly quickly so they can play on one or both of their Summer League teams in Orlando and Vegas. However; with the looming lockout less than a week away, this year's summer league has been cancelled. I'm not sure what this means for the UDFAs. I assume they'll remain free agents until the conclusion of the lockout, then be signed to non-guaranteed contracts or receive training camp invites from interested teams.

After the jump we'll take a look at a few of the undrafted players who the Sixers should keep their eye on, for whenever the proper time to sign these guys presents itself.

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The Sixers Should Sign Undrafted Free Agent Michael Dunigan

Michael Dunigan is my favorite undrafted free agent from a Sixers perspective. He's a big, big man who ranked 42 on Draft Express' top 100. The former Oregon Duck left Oregon to play overseas for BC Kalev/Cramo in Estonia, where he averaged 11.5 points, 7.8 rebounds on 55% shooting in 22 minutes per. 

Dunigan is an athletic big who finished at the rim at an exceptional rate last season. He also drew fouls at a high rate. As Brian of SBN Philly wrote, an athletic big capable of cutting to the hoop off pick and rolls and finishing is the type of big man the Sixers need. 

Standing 6'10", 240 (8% body fat) Dunigan has an impressive wingspan of 7'3.25" to go along with his max vertical of 34.5". His last season at Oregon he recorded a block percentage of 7.8, which was good for 59th in the entire nation. 

Scott Schroeder from Ridiculous Upside made the case before the draft that Dunigan is a better overall prospect than Jeremy Tyler. He also has a scouting report on Dunigan here, including a 7-minute "money tape" uploaded by his agent and a workout video from Draft Express.

Schroeder also notes Dunigan is Tyler's foil in terms of character and personality:

As far as I've heard, Tyler has been able to really impress some teams in draft workouts while coming off as a "clown" for other teams whereas Dunigan's being described as a "professional" and has reportedly been quite a bit more mature than front offices had expected.

I'd love to see the Sixers take a chance on Dunigan, but it's unlikely since he should have plenty of potential suitors inquiring. He worked out for the Lakers, Blazers, Warriors and Grizzlies

One thing's for sure, Michael Dunigan is a better prospect than Sixers' second-round pick Lavoy Allen, who they selected instead of Dunigan with the 50th pick – a pick overwhelming graded as an 'F' by the Liberty Ballers readers.

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Quotable: The Sixers NBA Draft Edition

The usual suspects (beat writers) weighed in with their articles following the Sixers draft:

Bob Cooney from the Daily News

Kate Fagan from the Inquirer 

John Smallwood from the Daily News

Below are notable quotes I pulled from the three articles, along with tweets from Sixers players.

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Sixers 2011 NBA Draft Grades Compiled: "Phlegm"

My few from the press seating before the board got all messy.

Heading into the 2011 NBA Draft, the Sixers were rumored ad infinitum to do two things: 1) Trade Andre Iguodala; 2) Trade Andre Iguodala and move up in the draft. When they did absolutely nothing but sit on their hands and pick Nikola Vucevic and Lavoy Allen quietly at their assigned numbers of 16 and 50, it didn't exactly excite the pundits. Here are the Sixers draft grades from around the web.


Tom Ziller, SB Nation
: C-

Fit has to be balanced with talent. The Sixers needed a big man and can probably give Vucevic more early minutes than they could a wing. But guys like Chris Singleton looked like such better prospects, it's hard to cheer such an uninspiring punt.

More after the J.

Poll
Grade the draft!
A
25 votes
B
127 votes
C
115 votes
D
78 votes
F
59 votes

404 votes | Poll has closed

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Dust Settles: Semi-Rational Thoughts on The Sixers Draft

The Sixers came into the 2011 NBA Draft with a plan and they executed it to perfection. It was to get the top guy on their draft board for where they were picking. And for whatever reason, Nikola Vucevic was that guy. Doug Collins, Rod Thorn and Ed Stefanski thought rebounding was such a weakness (it is) that they'd pass up a higher-level prospect like Chris Singleton in favor of Vucevic at the 16th pick.

I certainly don't agree with their player evaluating crew on this one because Vucevic, from what I've seen and read and heard, won't become anything more than a decent rotation player on a good team. Like Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young, and any number of mediocre guys on this roster, he should not be contributing major minutes if the team is intent on competing for a championship. That the front office was even considering trading up to pick him is an egregious miscalculation and it's lucky they didn't find a deal in time to move up, because he'd have been available as low as the end of the first round.

We've become accustomed to draft night disappointment and this night, in my opinion, was especially disheartening.

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2011 NBA Draft: Grading The Sixers Selection of Nikola Vucevic

Despite how disappointed I was with the Sixers selection of Nikola Vucevic with the sixteenth overall pick, I've tried to take a step back, now that the dust has settled, and properly evaluate the selection of Air Nicky, without completely bashing him.

Bottom line is, I don't think Nikola is a terrible prospect. In fact, I think he's an incredibly mediocre prospect. I simply don't think he was the correct pick at 16, whether the strategy was best player available, or player with the most potential. If the Sixers' strategy was strictly based on short-term need, then sure, Nikola fills a significant short-term need on a team lacking any reliable big men, but I have a hard time believing he's the long-term answer at center. So, for a team as far away from truly contending as the Sixers are, I didn't feel drafting for need was a smart strategy.

I would've much rather seen them select either A) The best player available (Chris Singleton), or the player with the most potential (Either Donatas Motiejunas, Tobias Harris, or Nikola Mirotic). 

But what's done is done, and it's time to move forward with our shiny new, Ronnie-from-Jersey-Shore-Look-A-Like, sweet-instrument-playing center. Make the jump for an attempt at un-biased analysis and fact. 

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Just How Un-Athletic is Sixers Draft Pick Nikola Vucevic?

I tweeted these fun facts earlier, as I was ranting on how much I hated the Sixers draft, and that was before the selected Lavoy Allen with the 50th pick. I realize not too much can be taken from pre-draft measurements, athletic testing results, etc., etc. These tidbits of information aren't meant to completely discount Nikola Vucevic as a player or a prospect (that'd be stupid). They simply illustrate how incredibly un-athletic the Sixers new big man is.
  1. Vucevic measured with half the body fat of Spencer Hawes at the combine. His vertical was still 4 inches shorter.
  2. Only 14 players benched less than Vucevic at the combine. Only one of those players was over 6'8".
  3. Of players drafted in the top 30 over the previous 11 years, only 1 had a worse vertical than Nikola Vucevic. His name was Pavel Podkolzine. Pavel Podkolzine was 7'5", 303 pounds.
*All measurements and athletic testing numbers are from the Draft Express database

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