By Peter Gleason
If I hear one more dopey radio talk show host wring his hands about the fact that the Sixers “only” got the No. 3 pick in the draft after Tuesday NBA lottery:
I am going to set my radio on fire!
First of all, although the Sixers didn’t score the Lakers’ or Heat’s first round pick, they are not going away. They will have a chance to cash them in next season or the season after.
Second, does anyne consider D’Angelo Russell, a 6-5 real point guard, a consolation prize?
I don’t.
And as Grantland.com says:
The Sixers have given themselves as many shots as possible to catch some lottery luck, but they just can’t grab it. Philly officials said afterward they were happy they didn’t move down — hi, Knicks! — and that they never let themselves hope for the dream scenario of snagging the nos. 1, 6, and 11 picks. Philly fans on Twitter made “OneSixEleven” a hashtag, since the Sixers would have received picks from the Lakers and Heat if they fell outside the top 5 (L.A.) and top 10 (Miami).
Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie said he knew about the hashtag, but that he also knew about the infinitesimal odds. “They were just so tiny,” Hinkie said. “I was teasing Scott [O’Neill, the Sixers’ CEO] about it: Why don’t we just wish to be 9 feet tall? That’s not gonna happen either. Why get your hopes up? There’s all sorts of things I would like that have a 1-in-500 chance of happening, but I don’t tweet about many of them.”
