The Sixers have four second-round picks in tonight's NBA draft. It is unlikely they use all of them, and if they do, it's not without trying to make moves.
The Sixers are slated to select at Nos. 36, 39, 46 and 50. The biggest hurdle: there's not enough room on the roster to draft and keep all of those picks.
"You're talking about limited roster spots," president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said Monday. "When you include the No. 1 selection, it might be two or three spots that are in question. You look at pick No. 36 and say, ‘Is anyone on the board that could possibly crack the rotation?' It's unlikely, but if that presents an opportunity to select someone that we have some confidence in, sometimes players do slide through that first round and you get surprised."
The team has been open about their interest in moving some of the picks for a while now. Back in May at the draft combine, Colangelo said, "It's not to say we're going to make four selections in the second round."
The Sixers have several options with those picks, for which they have received interest. One route could be packaging the picks to move up in the draft. TNT's David Aldridge reported the Sixers were offering picks 36 and 39 to get into the 20s (see story).
"You could potentially package them (second-round picks) and move up to have a later first-round pick that potentially is a better fit for the current fit for the current roster," Colangelo said Monday. "Maybe a sure fit as opposed to someone that could just be a question mark at 36."
There is a strong chance the Sixers could use the pick (or picks) for a draft-and-stash situation, similar to what happened when they acquired Dario Saric, wherein a player remains with their international team for now. Last year, the Sixers selected Furkan Korkmaz at No. 26. He played in Turkey this past season and may not join the Sixers until his existing contract is up. The Sixers spent time in Europe visiting Korkmaz and also watched prospective talent while there.
Other possibilities include trading out of this draft with those picks or packing them in a deal to move a current player.
In the case the Sixers use some or all of the picks, they have been hosting pre-draft workouts with projected second-round and undrafted players over the past few weeks at their training complex.
"What we are doing is lining up options and alternatives for those picks and for those selections," Colangelo said. "We want to be prepared as we are on the clock. The two-minute mark moves fast and we are going to have multiple decisions to make on draft night."
