The Sixers Were Somehow Both Winners and Losers During the NBA Draft Last Night

I know everyone is focused on June 30th (free agency) because everyone has been focused on June 30th since the NBA season even began. BUT, last night was fascinating.
The Sixers trading up with the Celtics to once again take a guard from Washington is one of the rare instances where BOTH fan bases somehow thought they lost, but both might’ve won.
Sixers fans: We got Hinkie’d. They knew the player we wanted and they held him hostage. They swapped picks, got another one of our picks and then took one of the other players we wanted with it.
Celtics fans: We just gave a good prospect to our rival on a silver platter. Instead of making a trade, we could’ve kept that said player.
The final boss of Celtics Twitter weighs in:

If Danny Ainge weren’t an NBA GM, he’d sell tummy tea on Instagram.
I love Mattise Thybulle, I wanted that to be the pick and it was. But, this is the last time I fall for a guard from Washington. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, strike three.

The Sixers were in the bottom half of the league in pretty much every major statistical category defensively last year.

They just drafted one of the best defenders in NCAA history. Not last year, not in the tournament. EVER.

Now to the 2nd round…holy shit was that bad! Like, laughably bad! They were never going to use every second round pick, that would be ridiculous and unneeded. But, I think we all are shocked they traded away 33, 34 and 42. A team with 4 players under contract (plus Thybulle pending) thought, “hey you know what we don’t need right now? Players”. I get the reasoning to allow them to stay flexible and gain cap space. It’s still a gamble to think this front office is capable of WINNING free agency and filling out this roster adequately with that cap space.

The key to running a team where four players will consume the majority of your salary (aside from signing those guys) is pinpointing value in inexpensive players to fill out the roster. The Sixers, the ultimate 2nd round sellers, have done nothing to prove they can fill out a roster that way.

All in all, it was very Sixers-esque to have me overflowing with excitement in one round and then irrationally angry the next.
By Aidan Powers | June 21, 2019
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