The Philadelphia 76ers have their own race to think about in the East. After all, the race to snag the last two guaranteed playoff spots is getting as tight as it can be, with as much as six teams duking it out to get as high as the fifth seed come playoff time. Just 2.5 games separate the No. 5 team from the No. 10 team, which only goes to show that this congestion will last until the final day of the regular season.
But with that said, the 76ers also have every reason to closely zoom in on what is happening with their Western Conference counterparts. After all, they do own the Rockets’ first-round pick this year [thanks to the Jared McCain trade](https://thesixersense.com/nba-analyst-says-quiet-part-out-loud-about-76ers-and-jared-mccain), so monitoring where Houston eventually ends up in a similar tight race in the standings is quite important as well.
The McCain trade is over. As heavily criticized as that was — and for good reason — there is no use crying over spilled milk. Hence, the front office has no other choice but to look forward to their impending consolation prize which could actually end up being a game-changing one. As everyone knows, the 2026 draft class is widely reckoned as an exceptionally talented and deep one.
76ers have to closely monitor where the Rockets will end up in the standings
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So far, the Rockets have the 10th-best win-loss card in the league with 44 wins against 29 losses entering Saturday. As such, the 76ers are currently projected to pick 21st in the 2026 NBA Draft. However, that is far from a done deal. Houston, the No. 6 seed in the West at the moment, is just 3.5 games away from the third spot held by the Lakers, owners of the fifth-best record in the league.
There is considerable difference between picking 21st and picking, say, 26th. Of course, the 76ers would like their selection to end up relatively closer to the lottery, which would allow them to be in play for some highly touted prospects who might fall outside the Top-14 range.
In fact, the Rockets are also only three games above the Raptors in the league standings, which opens the possibility that the 76ers could even pick 20th. In short, a lot of things can still happen to Philly’s draft footing just as much as the playoff picture can still look a lot different two weeks from now.
Hopefully, the 76ers get a favorable outcome in the end. All they can do for now is to wish that the basketball gods frown on the Rockets as they approach the end of the regular season.