The Philadelphia 76ers entered the draft with the 16th and 41st picks this year. After much speculation about whether the Sixers were going to trade the picks, they came out of the draft with two excellent players: Duke’s Jared McCain and UCLA’s Adem Bona.
After the draft, the Sixers agreed on a two-way contract with Philadelphia native and former Kentucky Wildcat and Philadelphia native Justin Edwards. Philadelphia also agreed to a two-way deal with David Jones out of the University of Memphis.
Without any trades, the Sixers seem to have found players who can contribute immediately and those with high enough upside to potentially be part of the future.
Jared McCain Draft Grade: A-
Jared McCain is a great pick at sixteen for the 76ers. A guard who can play off-ball, run an offense, shoot lights out from beyond the arc, and is only 19 years old is rare. Finding one outside of the lottery is even rarer. For the Blue Devils this past year, he led them to the Elite 8 as a freshman, averaging 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game on 46.2/41.4/88.5 percent shooting splits.
The Duke guard also dropped 30+ points twice in March Madness, finishing as one of the top scorers in the tournament. A mightily improved defender, McCain also averaged 1.1 steals per game and got significantly better as the season went along. The only reason this is not an immediate A+ is because of his size. Standing at just 6’2″, McCain and Maxey would be one of the shorter backcourts in the league in the future.
Adem Bona Draft Grade: B
Adem Bona is a 6’8″ center out of UCLA. This past season, Bona averaged 12.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. On offense, he is highly effective, shooting 58.8% from the field this last season on just under eight attempts per game. He is an above-average rebounder, especially on the offensive end, where he averaged 2.0 a game for the Bruins. On the defensive side is where Bona makes an even greater impact. 1.8 blocks a game is a great counting stat, but his impact goes way beyond that.
Bona was regularly the last line of defense for UCLA, and thanks to his high motor and 7’4″ wingspan, he was a beast on that end all season. Despite all of this, the pick still gets a B because of the flaws in his game. At 6’8″ there are concerns about the bigger centers at the NBA. His offensive game is rather limited at this point, with little to no perimeter game. Overall, this was a great second-round pick, and hopefully, he can develop into a long-term answer at the backup center position.
Justin Edwards Signing Grade: B
Justin Edwards was the No. three recruits coming out of high school. He had one down year with the Kentucky Wildcats, during which he wasn’t able to contribute the way many expected him to. That being said, Edwards was still able to use his three-point shooting and athleticism to impact winning.
Edwards started in 30 of 32 games for the Kentucky Wildcats this year and helped them achieve a 23-10 record. He averaged 8.8 points per game on 48.6% from the field, as well as 36.5% shooting from beyond the arc.
While Edwards wasn’t able to put it all together last season for Kentucky, he continued to work hard and do everything that was asked of him. If Edwards develops on his two-way contract the same way Ricky Council IV did this past year, he could be poised to be a Sixers for quite a long time.
David Jones Signing Grade: B+
David Jones is the oldest of all the Sixers’ draft day additions at 22 years old. In college, Jones started his career at DePaul, then St. Johns, and finally, he broke out with Memphis. For the Tigers this past season, David Jones averaged 21.8 points per game on 45.9% shooting from the field and 38.0% shooting from three.
On top of that, despite measuring in at 6’3″ at the combine, he also tallied 7.6 rebounds, including 2.6 offensive boards a game. While he is not a perfect player, his improvements this past season with Memphis, especially from beyond the arc, make this deal great. Jones could also be a longtime NBA contributor as a highly effective offensive force, especially if he continues to display the work ethic and commitment to improvement that he did for the Memphis Tigers this past season.
Sixers Draft Grade: A
Overall, I don’t think there is any way to not give the 76ers and Morey an A for this draft. Sure, some people really wanted Dalton Knecht from Tennessee when he fell to 16, but the Sixers made it clear that McCain was the guy they were hoping fell to them.
The Sixers came into this draft willing to trade out of the first round entirely, but it appears that instead, they came out of it with two guys who can make a marginal impact right away and signed an undrafted free agent who could turn into a serviceable three-and-D wing in just a few years.
