By Sarah Berkowitz
So the Sixers will draft at No. 3 and everyone from Trenton to Wilmington and Harrisburg has an opinion about whom they should take on June 25.
As it happens, ESPN’s experts have some views too:
Chad Ford: Russell (above). I actually think Sixers fans can take a deep breath that they ended up with the third pick. With Okafor and Towns off the board, they’re free to address their biggest need in the backcourt. I’m a huge Mudiay fan, but the Sixers really need shooting assistance and I think Russell’s confidence will be a huge boon for them. He’s a leader in a way that Michael Carter-Williams never was.
Sean Pelton: I love the fit of Russell in Philadelphia. He can be the perimeter counterweight Philadelphia needs to balance its promising young big men. In this scenario, with Russell off the board, I think I would go Mudiay because I’m not convinced Okafor is a better prospect than a healthy Joel Embiid. The really bold move (if the draft played out like this) would be for general manager Sam Hinkie to take Okafor and try to extract a ransom from the New York Knicks for him, along the lines of last year’s Elfrid Payton-Dario Saric swap that netted the Sixers the return of their protected 2017 first-round pick plus the 35th pick in this year’s draft.
