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With the 2015 Draft Lottery out of the way, and neither the Lakers pick nor the Heat pick conveying, the Sixers find themselves in a similar situation heading into 2016 as they did following February's trade deadline. They could once again own as many as four picks in the 2016 NBA Draft as what did not convey this year neither disappears into the ether nor downgrades itself to second round picks.
Many fans were especially hopeful of the 17.2% chance the Lakers had of conveying their pick to the Sixers, but alas it was not to be. The good news for the Sixers is next season the protection on the pick will change from top 5 to simply top 3. And as much as a tirefire as the Lakers are, they've got Kobe returning (for better or worse), Julius Randle returning, and the 2nd overall pick in 2015 (likely Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor). It's really early to project, but they'll probably be a team that is neither playoff team good nor bottom three bad, especially in the difficult Western Conference.
Despite the lesser odds of conveyance (only a 9.1% chance), many Sixers fans were also hoping to see the Heat pick convey as well. But despite hopes and #OneSixEleven, that did not happen as well. But unlike the Lakers pick and its protection, the Heat's top 10 protection does not change next year. Chris Bosh figures to return, and him along with Goran Dragic should be enough to make sure that pick conveys to the Sixers in 2016.
And while due to the Thunder missing out on the playoffs this pick had 0.00% chance of conveying in 2015, the odds seem ever in favor of the Thunder conveying their 2016 1st round pick to the Sixers. The pick becomes only top 15 protected and the Thunder have Kevin Durant returning next season. Barring another sort of cataclysmic injury, the Thunder figure to return to the top of Western Conference, giving the Sixers what in all likelihood will amount to a pick near the end of the 2016 first round.
The 2015 Draft looks much better than the 2016 Draft so none of these picks conveying is not exactly best-case scenario, but even in a weaker class it is still a good thing to have so many picks the Sixers could either use for themselves or wheel and deal for other assets. The quest to #OneFourElevenSixteen begins now, and if things go the Sixers' way in 2015-16, it may even become #PlayoffsFourElevenSixteen.