I'm not sure if people truly realize how crucial Thursday night’s draft is. All of us have been anxiously awaiting this particular night for some time now, but I don’t think anyone is more anxious than Sam Hinkie. The man behind the madness. The one who has been plotting and strategizing for this one night. When the Sixers are finally on the clock on Thursday, the spotlight will indeed shine directly on Hinkie, at least until someone is crowned with that brand new Sixers hat. What I’d like to do right now is tell you what I would do come Thursday if I were in Hinkie’s shoes. You might love it, you might hate it, but all that I want you to do is give it a little thought. Here goes nothing.
Yes, in fact this article does have something to do with Thaddeus Young. Young has been more than a solid player for the most part of his career, and is arguably coming of his best year yet. He averaged close to 18 points per game, and also did work in the rebound department averaging six per game. Now on a team that is rebuilding, you could either make him stick around to mentor the young guns or you deal him, for more young guns. If I were Hinkie I would go for the latter. It seems that Hinkie and company have been enamored with Wiggins all along and if that’s the case I think you do what it takes to please the Cavs. A deal that includes Thad, the third and maybe a little something else if need be should be more than enough to get it done. If the Cavs pass, then you figure something out with the Bucks. You get Wiggins by any means necessary and then you go from there.
Now with our second selection in the first round, I think we have to take Randle if he is available. All of the people in this draft are boys, but he is a man. He is also a man who averages double-doubles. Pair him with Noel and defenses will shiver at the two Kentucky products. Any shot that comes off the rim will almost always land in either the hands of Noel or Randle. If he isn’t there though, I think you have to consider trading the pick to move back in the first round, preferably to someone who has two first rounders like the Suns and Bulls.
If Hinkie is all about assets I could definitely see something like that getting done. I have seen that the Bulls might be a possibility, due to the fact that they will be going after Melo. We do them a favor and absorb one of their expiring contracts and nab 16 and 19 in the process. We give them 10 and a couple second rounders so they can get Dario Saric, the Croation power forward who is ranked a lot higher than Adreian Payne, who it looks like the Bulls might end up with. Teams drafting after the Nuggets at 11 haven’t really been able to take a look at Saric, because it seems like he’s their guy, but if the Bulls were to pick at 10 they would be able to grab him. Now that Saric has reached an agreement to stay in Turkey this might be a little far fetched, but in Hinkie we trust right?
With 16 and 19 in Hinkie’s pocket now, you have to look at the shooting guard and power forward positions. At 16 you get the power forward that would have been Randle but now at 16 I think it's Adreian Payne out of Michigan State. Something I do like about Payne is his ability to spread the floor which he put on display during the tournament this year. We constantly saw him take threes, but he also made them in the process. Add in the fact that he is 6-10 and he will be very useful at the next level especially in Brown's system. With our final pick in the first round coming at 19, you obviously go shooting guard here. Rodney Hood isn’t a bad selection by any means. The reason I like him most though is his height. If you nab Hood, then the smallest player in your starting five is the 6-6 Carter-Williams. Like I said before, you may love it, you may hate it, but just give it a thought. The least it will do is intrigue you.
Possible Starting Lineups:
PG: Carter-Williams
SG: Wroten
SF: Wiggins
PF: Randle
C: Noel
PG: Carter-Williams
SG: Hood
SF: Wiggins
PF: Payne
C: Noel
