The NBA Draft has long been a pivotal moment for franchises looking to reshape their future and the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves in a position to do that once again.
This year, the Sixers find themselves picking third overall for the fifth time in franchise history, and it has been an intriguing draft slot for them over the years. They have selected players who have brought promise to the city and some players who didn’t turn out to be the household names that they were expected to become.
The Sixers have taken some notable names third overall and see how these players shape the franchise.
Charles Smith
The Sixers selected Charles Smith third overall in the 1988 NBA Draft out of the University of Pittsburgh. Although he was drafted by Philadelphia, he never suited up the team and was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in the deal that brought Hersey Hawkins to town. Smith went on to have a solid nine-year NBA career with three teams, with career averages of 14.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Hawkins turned in five quality seasons for the Sixers, becoming a key contributor. He averaged 19 points per game as a Sixer and was even selected as an all-star during the 1990-1991 season, with a career best 22.1 points per game. Hawkins helped guild the Philadelphia to the postseason three out of the five years on the team. He went on to play eight more years in the league for three more teams.
Jerry Stackhouse
Jerry Stackhouse was drafted third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1995 NBA Draft out of University of North Carolina. Stackhouse was just coming off a season in which the Tarheels lost in the Final Four, but he led the team in scoring and was looked at as a potential franchise cornerstone. Stackhouse came in his rookie year and landed on the NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 19.2 points per game and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.
The Sixers ended up drafting Allen Iverson first overall the next year and the Sixers decided to break the two apart of just playing a season and some change together. During the 1997 season, the Sixers traded Stackhouse to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Theo Ratliff and Aaron McKie. Both of those players were integral in the Sixers’ 2001 NBA Finals run, where they eventually fell to the mighty Los Angeles Lakers.
Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid is the player that the Sixers struck gold on, drafting third overall. He was picked in the top three despite his injury concerns and ended up missing the first two seasons of his career. Once he got on the court, he transformed the team, and with a better roster around him, he helped catapult the team into contention.
He has had his injury concerns seep into his NBA career, affecting the total number of games he has played in his career and in the playoffs. Even with his injuries, he transformed into a legitimate NBA MVP, winning in 2023 and becoming one of the best two-way players of all time. The Sixers are at a crossroads with the former MVP and his injuries, but regardless, he has cemented himself as one of the best players, if not the best player, in Philadelphia 76ers’ history.
Jahlil Okafor
In 2015, the year after taking Joel Embiid third overall, the Sixers selected Duke big man Jahlil Okafor with the third pick. With Embiid expected to be sidelined for some time, the front office took a swing at who they thought the best player available was at the time, which was Okafor. Okafor was just coming off a National Championship at Duke and showed a lot of low-post ability during their tournament run.
Okafor showed early promise, averaging 17.5 points and 7 rebounds per game as a rookie. He was a traditional low post big, and the league started to change into more pace and space, which hindered his ability to be effective on some nights. Once Embiid was healthy and Ben Simmons arrived and was healthy, he was the odd man out and was eventually traded to Brooklyn Nets, ending his tenure in Philadelphia just two years after being drafted.
The Sixers’ history with the third overall pick is a microcosm of the franchise’s broader journey, moments of brilliance, missteps, and the occasional stroke of genius. While not every No. 3 pick panned out, the selection of Joel Embiid alone has been worth the misses. With the Sixers scheduled to pick third in this June’s NBA draft, they have to get it right and hope that whoever this pick pans out.
