Now that the Philadelphia 76ers officially have a selection in the 2022 NBA draft thanks to the Brooklyn Nets deferring the pick acquired in the James Harden trade to 2023, now is the time to look back at some draft history in Philadelphia.
Every team has some draft busts in their franchise’s history. There is just so much hope and potential for every draftee to succeed and become the player they’re expected to be, but sometimes it just does not happen.
The Sixers are no different as they have made a few draft picks that just did not work out and we’re here to rank the top five worst picks this team has made. With that being said, let’s get into the list:
No. 5 Leon Wood
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Pick: 10th overall 1984 draft
Notable player selected after: John Stockton
Yes, before Wood became an NBA official in 1996, he was playing in the league. The Sixers selected him 10th overall in the 1984 draft and he averaged 4.1 points and 1.8 assists in just 67 games before being traded to the Washington Bullets in his second season.
The guy the Sixers could have had? John Stockton who went 15th to the Utah Jazz and went on to have a Hall of Fame career.
The reason why he isn’t higher on this list is due to the fact that the Sixers got a steal with Charles Barkley at 5th overall. Could you imagine, though? Instead of “Stockton to Malone” there could have been “Stockton to Barkley”.
No. 4 Sharone Wright
PAUL K. BUCK/AFP via Getty Images
Pick: 6th overall 1994 draft
Notable players selected after: Eddie Jones, Jalen Rose
There were high hopes for Wright after he put up two consecutive seasons of 15 and 10 at Clemson, but it did not work out in the NBA. The Sixers moved him to the Toronto Raptors after just 125 games played and he averaged 11.1 points and 6.2 rebounds.
The Sixers could have had an All-Star like Eddie Jones or a really solid player like Jalen Rose who averaged 18.2 points in the 1999-00 season helping the Indiana Pacers reach the NBA Finals.
No. 3 Markelle Fultz
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Pick: 1st overall 2017 draft
Notable players selected after: Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo
What a mess. The Sixers made a trade with the rival Boston Celtics to move up and select Fultz with the top overall pick in 2017 and it turned out to be a nightmare. He played a grand total of 33 games in 1.5 seasons in Philadelphia due to a bizarre shoulder injury that was later diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome along with plenty of other off-the-court issues. He was then sent to the Orlando Magic for Jonathon Simmons.
The Sixers could have had All-Stars like Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and Bam Adebayo who have all become All-Stars in the league. Instead, they got mixed up in a nightmarish time with Futz and his infamous “camp”.
No. 2 Larry Hughes
Doug Pensinger /Allsport
Pick: 8th overall 1998 draft
Notable players selected after: Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce
You can mark Hughes down as one of the many failed experiments by Sixers management of trying to find a second guy next to Allen Iverson. The Sixers passed on future Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce to select Hughes and it was a complete failure.
Hughes averaged 9.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 100 games before being sent to the Golden State Warriors. Nowitzki and Pierce, meanwhile, went on to have amazing careers and went to win a title and a Finals MVP each. One can imagine one of these guys next to Iverson. Philadelphia would have had a much better chance at a title led by Iverson.
No. 1 Shawn Bradley
AP Photo/Lennox McLendon
Pick: 2nd overall 1993 draft
Notable players selected after: Penny Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Isaiah Rider
Standing at 7-foot-6, Bradley was supposed to help lead the Sixers back to relevance. Instead, he got pushed around too often in the paint and he struggled to make an impact other than being a good rim protector. After 143 games in 2.5 seasons, Bradley was sent to the New Jersey Nets.
Meanwhile, Penny Hardaway teamed up with Shaquille O’Neal in Orlando to lead the Magic to a couple of Finals appearances while becoming one of the better players in the league and Jamal Mashburn averaged 19.1 points per game for his career. There was also Isaiah Rider who was a prolific scorer throughout his career.
All of that makes the Bradley pick that much more unforgivable.
1
1