The 76ers are picking next.  They are represented by:

  Brent Halliburton


The 76ers user the 6th pick for:

  Yinka Dare, 7-0, C.  George Washington.

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Team Analysis

Overview:

The 76ers suck.  No doubt about it, they suck.  Any team that can play
worse than the Mavs has to suck bad and these guys do.  When Shawn
Bradley went out with an injury, and Jeff Hornacek traded away, the
76ers were no longer able to win.  They piled up loss after loss, only
going on a winning streak in the last few games of the season to take
themselves out of prime lottery position.  This team is a collection
of players that would ride the pine on any other team in the NBA.
Even Shawn Bradley might warm the bench in some better equipped club.
This team has only one legitimate starter, Clarence Weatherspoon.  The
management hopes to build its team around Shawn, Clarence, and the
next lottery or two.

Center:

Shawn Bradley may look like a tall white boy who is going to be a
permanent project and a total NBA bust, and I certainly thought he was
going to be another shitty white guy who never develops and ends up a
big bust, but it turns out he can play.  For one, the 76ers were able
to win when he was in the lineup.  For two, the likely reason for this
can be found in opponent field goal percentage.  It skyrocketed after
his injury.  A relatively quick 7 foot 6 inch man can alter a ton of
shots.  Look for more of that this year.  It is scary to think he may
be the cornerstone of an NBA franchise when he is often unable to
shoot, unable to pass out of the post, looking lost, and getting spun
around on defense.  But he shows the occasional flash of brilliance
with surprising passing skills and a soft touch.  His backups are
unexceptional, besides Moses Malone, who is exceptional because he is
so old.

Forwards:

Clarence Weatherspoon is the one bright spot on this team.  After
Shawn Bradley went out and Hornacek was traded, he led the team in
blocks, rebounds, and points, and was second in steals and assists.
He has more than adequately filled the gap after the management's
disastrous Barkley trade.  Warren Kidd was a true surprise here as he
stepped in and provided a lot of support on the glass.  Very
unpolished coming out of college, he still lacks NBA defense and post
moves.  Orlando Woolridge was brought in to score points after the
injury and the trade, and as everyone knew that was all he was good
for.  Too old to blow past his man, and a defensive liability, he
tried and failed to outwit his man far too often.  All too often he
would disappear during games, but then with Orlando Woolridge that
goes with the territory.

Guards:

Dana Barros had his moments of glory.  When everyone realized that the
76ers were incapable of winning the game, he awarded himself a license
to shoot 3's from all over the court.  A bench warmer on most teams,
he was the starting guard for this one, doing a tolerable but far from
excellent performance.  Jeff Malone performed admirably all things
considered.  Not half the player Hornacek was, he did his fair share
of scoring and was a key part of the few games the sixes managed to
pull out at the end of the season.  Greg Graham was a rookie who
showed a lot of promise.  Look for him to receive more playing time in
the future as Malone ages and the team attempts to create a youth
movement.

Management:

It is commonly believed that when Shawn Bradley was injured the
ownership chalked up the season as a loss, traded Hornacek for as many
draft picks as they could get, and settled in to watch the sixes
flounder through their remaining games, hoping to obtain a good
lottery pick come draft day.  Sadly, the sixes almost removed
themselves from contention for the top three picks by winning the last
few games, prompting the management to goo on a killing rampage.
Harold Katz is an idiot in the true mold of Philly sports teams
owners.  They are committed to finding ways to mess up perfectly good
teams.  There are no longer any players remaining on the 76ers team
from the disastrous Charles Barkley trade, having released or traded
them all away.

What Philly Needs:

Help, and a lot of it.  Clarence and Shawn are the only people with
secure jobs in the entire organization, including the entire front
office and coaching regime.  Due to Clarence's Barkley-like shape, he
can play either small forward or power forward.  That means that any
position but center could use a pick.  A point guard who has
extraordinary leadership qualities and comes from a winning program
might be a good choice to help this team improve its attitude.  Philly
should approach this draft from a best available approach.  They can
pick up players at anywhere but center due to Weatherspoons
flexibility..

Who Philly will Really Pick:

Philly needs help on the boards to keep skinny Shawn from being too
badly damaged, and they need help in the back court.  Look for them to
use their lottery pick to try and grab a power forward and then grab a
guard with their other picks.  Rozier might be the man they choose.
Late in the 1st round look for a pick like BJ Tyler or any person who
has slipped farther than expected.  Kind of a best athlete mode.

My Pick:

I was hoping and praying, as all the other GM's were, to win in the
lottery.  At least I wasn't hurt.  I got pretty excited when Juwan
wasn't taken fourth and I was ready to pounce on him but he got
scooped up.  Instead, I will make the first reach of the draft and
take Yinka.  In real life I would promptly trade down to try and grab
either Rozier of Jalen, but Yinka is my man.  Any other year a big 7
foot center would be a lottery pick, but this draft is particularly
deep.  There are hordes of teams ready to trade away quite a bit for a
chance like him and I want to take advantage of it.  The Celtics may
be a team I would look to trade with.  Take their pick and grab Rozier
or Rose and also get one of their young gaurds.  I think they want a
new Parish.  Anyway, thats my crazy play.  We needed players every
where but center, so I promptly picked a center with my lottery pick.
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