2019 NBA Draft: Grading the Sixers’ Picks and Trades

The NBA Draft is one of the biggest nights of the entire NBA offseason, and many look to draft the future cornerstones of their franchises. The Sixers own picks 24, 33, 34, 42 and 54 tonight, and we will be giving out grades for each of their picks and any trades they are involved in.

9:43 PM: The Philadelphia 76ers select Washington small forward Matisse Thybulle with the 20th overall pick. The Sixers moved up to the 20th pick in a trade with the Boston Celtics, giving up the 24th and 33rd picks in this draft. With the team owning the 33rd and 34th picks in the second round they were willing to part with one in order to move up. After the pick the Oklahoma City Thunder moved down from the 21st pick to the 23rd pick in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies potentially because they were targeting Thybulle. If that was the case and the Sixers jumped the Thunder to grab their guy it makes the trade even better since they still have an early second round pick. Thybulle will fit in perfectly on the Sixers bench and will be a terror on the defensive end. All in all a great move by the Sixers.

Pick Grade: A

Trade Grade: C+

10:48 PM: The Sixers and Washington Wizards have completed a trade. Philadelphia will be sending “human victory cigar” Jonathon Simmons and the 42nd overall pick in the NBA Draft in return for cash considerations. By trading Simmons the Sixers clear one million dollars in cap space. Giving up the 42nd pick to save that little amount of money is a head scratching move and one that is going to need to be explained by higher ups in the organization. With so many prospects with the potential to make a difference still available and falling down draft boards giving up the ability to draft one for just a cap space break doesn’t seem like a good move. It’s not the type of move that will set the franchise back years but it is just another example of the front office making moves for the sake of making moves that winds up hurting them in the end.

Trade Grade: D

11:18 PM: The Sixers once again made a trade involving second round picks, this time the team sent the 34th pick to the Atlanta Hawks for the 57th pick and two future second round picks. The Hawks used the 34th pick to draft center Bruno Fernando out of the University of Maryland. Another trade that makes little to no sense, the Sixers needed to hit on both of their early second round picks and they completely whiffed on both. The 33rd pick was traded to the Celtics in order to acquire the rights to Matisse Thybulle, the Celtics proceeded to take the perfect Sixers fit in Carsen Edwards. Next the Sixers make this trade for future assets that aren’t going to help them any time soon when they could have added a difference maker right now at the top of the second round. The Sixers do receive a late second round pick this year but the difference between 34 and 57 is massive. With so many large contracts ready to clutter the roster the Sixers needed to acquire young, cheap talent, and two early second round picks had them in prime position to achieve that goal. These trades have gutted that ability and now force the Sixers to throw darts at players late in the draft instead of taking something closer to a sure thing. A terrible trade that makes even less sense than the trade involving Jonathon Simmons. With everything that has happened following the Celtics drafting Carson Edwards I feel the need to change the trade grade of the Thybulle trade from an original B+ to a C+

Trade Grade: F

12:25 AM: With the 54th pick in the NBA Draft the Sixers select Marial Shayok, the shooting guard and small forward combo out of Iowa State. Shayok played one year at Iowa State after transferring from the University of Virginia and put up solid numbers. An outside shooter who shot the three pointer at a 38 percent clip this season and shot 87 percent from the free throw line. A robust 18.7 points per game shows Shayok can light it up, but the pick is still questionable with other bigger names available such as Jontay Porter and Luguentz Dort. Shayok probably won’t make a difference immediately but he could eventually turn into something with some work in the G League.

Pick Grade: C-

12:32 AM: With their final pick in the NBA Draft the Sixers selected Tennessee point guard Jordan Bone. One of the quickest athletes in the draft Bone would have had the ability to work his way into the rotation as backup point guard in Philadelphia. The reason I said “would have” you ask? well that is because the Sixers decided to trade his rights to the Detroit Pistons for cash considerations. Listen, Bone may not have been anything special but once again the Sixers decide they would rather have a few bucks than have young talent on a cheap contract. Many of the trades Philadelphia was a part of tonight made little to no sense and this is just another one you can add to the list. It won’t make much of a difference, if any at all but it just goes to show the front office refuses to take advantage of the margins when given the opportunity time and time again.

Trade Grade: D