Marc Eversley: Sixers Prepared for Anything in NBA Draft Lottery

The Sixers have to wait another day to find out where they will select in this year’s draft. Whether they land the No. 1 pick, fall as low as four, or scoop up the Lakers’ pick if it is out of the top three, they are ready for all possibilities.

The lottery results will be revealed Tuesday evening, but the 24th and 26th picks are locks. The Sixers began pre-draft workouts Monday at their practice facility hosting prospective non-lottery talent while staying ready for whatever the ping-pong balls reveal.

They brought in St. Joe’s forward DeAndre’ Bembry, Temple forward Jaylen Bond, Villanova guard Josh Hart, VCU guard Melvin Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette forward Shawn Long and Seton Hall guard Isaiah Whitehead. The Sixers plan to hold between eight and 11 workouts before the draft, depending on their selections.

“Hopefully luck is on our side tomorrow night, I’ll just say that,” Sixers vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley said after the workouts. “We’ll see where it falls. We’re going to be prepared whether we get that first pick or not, whether we get two picks or not. My job and the staff’s job is to make sure we’re in tune and we know the draft inside and out. We’re prepared to make a correct selection no matter where we pick.”

The Sixers have a 26.9 percent chance of getting the first overall pick and cannot get lower than fourth. The selection pool is tight at the top positions, with LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram projected as either No. 1 or 2. Later in the first, the Sixers are hoping to discover a steal with either of their picks.

Eversley, who was hired by the Sixers this month from the Wizards, considers himself to be “very versed” in the draft class. He has been evaluating collegiate talent since the start of this past season. Eversley considers traits such as work ethic, punctuality, character, family background and basketball influences into when trying to find a late-round sleeper.

“Obviously at the top there’s a few kids who probably separate themselves from a couple others, but our job is to figure out who are those diamonds in the rough as you go further down into the draft,” Eversley said. “I think it’s a good draft. I think there’s going to be a good player, a couple good players if we keep our picks in the 20s. I think we’re going to be fine.”

Philadelphia 76ers

Complete coverage of the Philadelphia 76ers and their rivals in the NBA from NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid to join Sixers on road for their two-game trip

Harden effusive in praising Maxey, very brief on Morey and Embiid 

Monday’s workout included full-court scrimmages as each player tried to separated himself on the floor. These group workouts will be different than the private ones projected top picks will go through. Former third pick Joel Embiid was present for Monday's workout and told Eversley he would have liked to participated in a group setting during his pre-draft visits.

“He said when he went through his process, he wanted to be involved with something like this where he actually got out and competed against other players,” Eversley said. “For those kids who are at the top of the draft who usually don’t work out against others, they probably miss a little bit in terms of competing and measuring themselves against other players. But we certainly understand that agents do kind of control the process a little bit, so for them to come out and work one-on-one it gives us an idea of who they are and what their skills are. Certainly we’d love to see them work out against each other, but we also understand that it’s part of the process and that’s business as usual.”

Once the lottery results are revealed Tuesday, the Sixers can begin to zone in one a specific handful of top prospects. Eversley believes they are on the right path in the draft, led by newly appointed president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo.

"He gets after it," Eversley, who worked with Colangelo on the Raptors, said. "He’s got a clear vision and a path for this franchise and where he wants to take it."

Copyright CSNPhily
Contact Us