The Sixers getting the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft feels appropriate. Getting No. 1 or No. 2 would’ve required too much luck. Falling out of the top six and losing the pick would’ve been too depressing. This is a solid middle ground.
It’s also appropriate because Philly sports fans get to do their favorite thing: argue (complimentary (we’re very good at it)). What will the Sixers do with the third overall pick? Some folks love Ace Bailey. Some folks ... less so. Others prefer V.J. Edgecombe while others worry about a logjam at guard. Considering how close the prospects are in the 3-8 range, trading back is another thought.
No matter what Daryl Morey and the Sixers do, you can be sure that they’ll take the best player available, regardless of how that player fits their current roster.
“[We’ll] definitely [take the] best player available. It has to be that high in the draft, for sure,” Morey said at his end-of-season presser. “So, it’s just a tool to make the team better, but obviously, there’s a good chance we’ll take someone. In that case, it will just be the best player. I’ve never shied from that.”
All of the reporting (as of now) suggests the Sixers are more likely to take a player at three than make a trade. For obvious reasons, the idea of including the No. 3 pick in a trade for a veteran player has already been shot down. It makes sense. Morey has talked since the trade deadline about making the team younger and more dynamic. Unless a young star becomes available between now and June 25, the Sixers using the pick in a trade for a player seems unlikely (unless they’re also getting draft capital).
Trading back still seems like a possibility. NBA Salary Cap Analyst Yossi Gozlan laid out a few intriguing options for the Sixers. With teams like the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets falling out of the top four and having future draft capital to burn, they’re all sensible trade partners. How eager any of those teams are to move up to three is the question.
No matter where the Sixers pick though, expect them to take the best player on the board. Not only has Morey gone this route since he showed up in 2020, but also often picks the player with the highest upside.
In retrospect, the Tyrese Maxey pick looks like a no-brainer. It wasn’t. Maxey shot just 29.2% from three at Kentucky, making him an ill-fitting player next to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Morey took him anyway. Sure, the Sixers believed he was a better shooter than the numbers suggested, but that still took a leap of faith. They believed Maxey was the best player on the board (clearly he was) and selected him.
Morey also crushed it in the second round that year, trading away early picks (Theo Maledon and Tyler Bey, both of whom are no longer in the NBA, were selected in those slots) and selecting Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed, two players still in the league and contributing to playoff teams — a massive win for second-rounders.
The 2021 draft is the one blemish on Morey’s scouting record. The team selected Jaden Springer out of Tennessee. The pick didn’t work out as players like Santi Aldama, Herb Jones, Miles McBride and Ayo Dosunmu were selected right after. But this is only brought up because of the process of making the pick. Springer was the youngest player in the draft and was considered the 17th-best player in the country coming out of high school, per ESPN. Morey took a high-upside swing, despite his team coming off a season in which they were the top seed in the conference.
In 2022, they traded their first-round pick to Memphis for De’Anthony Melton. David Roddy was selected. It’s a trade that ultimately didn’t work out mostly because of Melton’s health. He gave them some great minutes during his time here, but his back issues made signing him long-term a risky venture. Roddy has since bounced around the league, at one point signing a 10-day contract with the Sixers last season. Call it a wash.
In 2023, the team had zero picks. They found an undrafted player in Ricky Council IV, who looked like he could be a solid NBA contributor in 2023-24 before having a rough season in 2024-25. We’ll see what the future holds for Council, but an undrafted guy playing and contributing at all is a pretty huge win.
And in 2024, Morey and company truly crushed it, selecting Jared McCain at 16th overall. As has been pointed out several times, Dalton Knecht seemed to be the better fit because of his age and size. Morey chose McCain, who would’ve run away with the Rookie of the Year had he not suffered a torn meniscus. Snagging Adem Bona at 41 also looks like tremendous value. Still a raw player all around, Bona showed enough flashes to look like a serious backup five option next season.
All of this to say, this is the path the Sixers will follow again in 2025. Edgecombe is a guard. He’s also really good and arguably the third-best player in the draft. Maybe it won’t work with all of Maxey, McCain, Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes here. Then again, maybe it will! If it doesn’t, having so many good, young guards you have to trade one seems like a great problem to have.
If the Sixers trade back and view Derik Queen or Khaman Maluach as the best player, they’re going to take them. If Embiid has miraculously regenerated meniscus and can play 82 games next season, the Sixers will still take one of those bigs if they’re the best player available.
The Sixers have a bigger eye on the future than some people might think. Would they like for Embiid and Paul George to remain healthy and play at a high level? Of course. Morey will still have avenues to improve the team at the deadline if that’s the case. But they also have to make decisions for the organization that won’t leave them in the lurch if those guys can’t produce for the remainder of their max contracts.
Even still, getting younger and more dynamic should help the team now. The Sixers will put a more athletic and hungrier team on the floor on a nightly basis when their stars are sidelined. But more importantly, those younger guys can help the team usher in its next era.
You can argue all you want about what the Sixers should do at No. 3. There are several intriguing options.
But if you’re factoring in fit, you’re just yelling into the void.