Nick Piccone
It’s always interesting to see who represents which teams in the NBA Draft Lottery year after year. Last year, Nerlens Noel did the honors for the Sixers. This year, head coach Brett Brown will be the guy representing our basketball team, and hopefully grabbing the first overall pick, at the lottery next Tuesday. From the Sixers’ website:
PHILADELPHIA – When the 76ers learn their draft fate on May 17th, the man officially representing the franchise at the lottery will be the same person entrusted with mentoring and molding the team’s next top pick.
This year, Brett Brown will be the member of the Sixers organization seated on stage inside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel’s Grand Ballroom during the anticipated, exciting moments in which the final order for the 2016 NBA Draft is revealed.
“This year’s NBA Draft Lottery tips off the exciting next phase for Sixers basketball,” Brown told Sixers.com Monday. “I’m proud to represent the city of Philadelphia on behalf of the loyal fans that have supported this team throughout the past three seasons. We’re looking forward to the many opportunities in front of us this summer to advance our program.”
Since Brown’s hiring in August of 2013, his stint with the Sixers has been one defined by the prioritization of player development. Former lottery acquisitions Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, and Jahlil Okafor have all broken into the NBA on Brown’s watch. Carter-Williams was recognized as the league’s 2014 Rookie of the Year, while Noel was a 2015 all-rookie first-team honoree.
Nik Stauskas, the eighth choice of the 2014 draft whom the Sixers obtained via trade last July, made positive strides in his first campaign under Brown.
Joel Embiid and Dario Saric – two other lottery prospects, both from 2014 as well – are set to be on the court for Brown and the Sixers this coming season.
Prior to this year, the most recent Sixers head coach to be stationed behind the team’s podium on lottery night was John Lucas, who was tapped for the assignment in 1995.
This year marks the first time in franchise history since the NBA lottery system was implemented in 1990 that the Sixers will have the league’s highest odds – 26.9 percent – for the number one overall pick in the draft. They have a 49.5 percent chance to land either the first or second slot.
For additional notes on how the lottery’s procedures and probabilities apply to the Sixers, check out this Sixers.com FAQ article.