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Who's excited for the Philadelphia 76ers to make their second consecutive appearance in the NBA Playoffs?!
*crickets*
Who's excited to talk about all our favorite NBA Draft prospects, only to have the Sixers not draft any of them, instead?!
Every time ESPN or Draft Express publishes a new mock draft, updates their rankings, or both, we are all over it.
Unfortunately, because they're drafting in the middle of the first round (again), the Sixers' chances of drafting a sure-fire stud are low (again). But that doesn't mean there won't be some talent available when Rod Thorn has to finally look up from his 'Words with Friends' game to hand in his pick.
Make the jump to check out DX's freshly updated prospect rankings and 2012 NBA Mock Draft, along with a few thoughts from yours truly.
The folks at DX have the Sixers selecting Meyers Leonard, center from Illinois, with the 15th pick. I like Leonard, but don't love him. Much like last year's Vucevic pick, I think he has extremely limited upside. I'm against that kind of pick when a team severely lacks talent, which is why I was so against Cole Aldrich a few years ago.
I'm all about upside when it comes to the Sixers, cause they don't have a lot of it. With that in mind, here's a brief list of guys projected to go after the Sixers pick: Quincy Miller, Tony Wroten, Royce White and Andrew Nicholson. I'm not saying I'd want any or all of these guys over Leonard, but they all have significantly higher upsides.
I wrote a little bit on Wroten and White in the last mock draft update. Wroten is a bit of a gunner with motor concerns, who draws comparison to Tyreke Evans. All-Star ceiling, bust potential, but could emerge as a true "number one option" for the Sixers on offense. White is insanely talented and produced at a pretty high level at Iowa State, but has serious concerns off-the-court, including an anxiety disorder and fear of flying.
Quincy Miller just declared for the Draft, and Mike already endorsed him on Twitter. Miller has upside and impressive physical tools, no doubt, but I'm not the biggest fan.
Nicholson would be a reach at 15, but put up good numbers in the Atlantic 10 and has modest upside. Potential target if the Sixers were to trade into the top of the second round (yeah right).