NBA Draft 2016: Timothe Luwawu Is A Steal For The Sixers At #24

The 2016 draft could not have broken much better than it did for the Sixers, as they surprisingly nabbed French wing Timothe Luwawu at #24.

Luwawu is almost the prototype for what teams are looking for in a versatile 3-and-d wing. He's 21 years old, measuring 6-7 with a 6-11 wingspan with above average athleticism for the position and he developed a very respectable three-point shot this past season playing in the Adriatic League.

Let's cover the shooting first. Coming into the season, Luwawu appeared to be another athletic wing without a respectable jumper. However, this year, Luwawu took more threes and made more threes than before, shooting 37% from distance. Most notably, Luwawu developed a solid catch-and-shoot jumper, which is a perfect fit for the role he'd be asked to play around players like Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

Defensively, Luwawu is admittedly a lot of projection. He tends to ball-watch a lot, and he's not particularly sound on-ball either. But he gets steals based on his size and length, and physically has all the tools to be a strong defender with the right coaching and discipline. His size and length also makes him a logical fit for a defense based around frequent switching.

In the open-court, Luwawu is a monster. Mega Leks played a very wide open system that allowed for a lot of pushing the ball in transition, which allowed Luwawu to develop as a playmaker. It wasn't always positive results, but he showed flashes in a much larger role than he would likely ever be asked to play in Philadelphia.

The freedom also allowed him to showcase a good handle for a player his size and pretty good court vision as well.
Quite frankly, the Sixers got a steal at #24. I had Luwawu ranked 8th on my Sixers big board, and the LB staff at large ranked him 6th. I considered him a logical trade-up target, so for Bryan Colangelo to snag him at #24 was a dream scenario.