Howard Smith-USA Today Sports
The Philadelphia 76ers will attempt to wash the taste out of their mouths of this past miserable campaign, and there’s few better ways to do that than by bringing in new young players. With the Andrew Bynum trade and subsequent removal from the equation turning the once promising 2012-13 run into a complete disaster, the Sixers enter the 2013 NBA Draft with three picks. So, let’s think glass half-full.
To help develop young talent, the 76ers have acquired a D-League franchise that will be known as the Delaware 87ers.
“This Development League team is just the next step in what we’ve said we’re going to do,” said Managing Owner Josh Harris, “Which is to really improve and facilitate a high-quality basketball operation and to bring a consistent winner to Philadelphia… We’ve talked about analytics, and we’ve started a whole process there.”
“We’ve talked to you about the Development League in the past, and here we are today. And we have a bunch of other things up our sleeve that we’re going to be doing to put a consistently winning basketball team on the court in Philadelphia. This is just the next step in that journey.”
For what it’s worth, MockDraft.net projects the 76ers to take Syracuse sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams with the 11th overall pick, New Mexico shooting guard/small forward Tony Snell with the 35th overall pick and ‘Cuse senior small/power forward James Southerland with the 42nd overall selection. Delaware is not too much of a hike from upstate New York, so it will be interesting to see if Philly takes either Orange prospect.
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
