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Each year, ESPN assembles a panel of more than 100 basketball experts/writers/commentators and asks them to rate (virtually) every player in the NBA. In this year's edition of #NBARank, nearly every member of the Philadelphia 76ers finished in the bottom 200 of the 400-player list (down from 500 last season).
We're only halfway through the complete unveiling of the rankings, and the only Sixers who haven't been named (and who will be in the top 200) are Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Noel finished 97th on SI.com's Top 100 list, so he'll probably slide in somewhere around there on ESPN's board, with Okafor not terribly far behind.
As for the Sixers who have been mentioned, here's where they are slotted in this year's #NBARank project (last year's ranking in parentheses):
- 202. Robert Covington (479)
- 241. Nik Stauskas (218)
- 243. Isaiah Canaan (339)
- 262. Kendall Marshall (232)
- 287. Jerami Grant (469)
- 289. Tony Wroten (289)
- 319. Carl Landry (205)
- 331. Pierre Jackson (425)
- 338. Hollis Thompson (420)
- 374. JaKarr Sampson (NR)
- 377. Furkan Aldemir (NR)
A few things:
- This isn't much different from last year: In 2014, eight Sixers were ranked between 400 and 500 (missing you, Jarvis Varnado).
- Personally, I don't know if I'd put Pierre Jackson over Hollis Thompson right now, but once you get past 300, you're king of splitting hairs at that point. Or, maybe I'm just flat-out wrong. #THEYSLEEP
- If Isaiah Canaan is the fifth-best player on the 2015-16 Sixers, then it's going to be a long season.
- For what it's worth, #FutureSixer Anthony Bennett (the dream isn't dead) came in at 263.
So what are your thoughts on where the Sixers fell on #NBARank so far? Did ESPN get it right?