Welcome to the 1996 Usenet Mock draft. A quick administrative note: unlike previous years, I will not be posting the scouting reports. Keeping two copies (one in ASCII and one in HTML) was too big of a headache. To see the scouting reports, please visit the web site: http://sunsite.unc.edu/craig/draft/1996_draft/1996_draft.html. With that taken care of, its on to the draft. The first pick belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers. Their net GM is: Albert Lee Albert selects with the 1st pick: Allen Iverson ================================================================================ Free Agents: Derrick Alston, Richard Dumas, Sean Higgins, Tony Massenburg, Vernon Maxwell, Ed Pinckney, Trevor Ruffin, Greg Sutton, LaSalle Thompson I. Team Needs/History Well, let's put it pretty bluntly --- the Sixers are a sad, sad team. They finished last season with a horrid record of 18-64, and due to the team's failures, John Lucas was fired from both his GM and head coaching positions. New team owner Pat Croce brought in Brad Greenberg to replace Lucas as his new GM. They still have yet to sign a coach(See bottom) It seems like the last 5 years or so, the Sixers have had pretty high lottery picks -- yet somehow they manage to remain in the cellar due to unlucky/poor selections...recent selections include Clarence Weatherspoon, Shawn Bradley, Sharone Wright, and Jerry Stackhouse...both Bradley and Wright are no longer with the Sixer club. What the Sixers need most right now is a center and and a point guard. here was the 76ers most played lineup last season...Weatherspoon-Alston-Pinckney-Stackhouse-Maxwell (Nba.com) A. CENTER Who do the sixers have at center? Well after Bradley was traded to the Nets for Coleman, left them with a slew of journeyman players. The Sixers nine starting centers have been: Bradley, Williams, Wright, Coleman, Brown, Thompson, Alston, Massenburg and Pinckney all had their turns starting at center. Right now, it looks like Massenburg and/or Pickney could play the bulk of their time at this position...These two can provide solid rebounding, but are questionable in terms of their offensive ability. In addition, Scott Williams and LaSalle Thompson are experienced veterans who will provide some depth at this position. This is definitely a point of weakness for this Sixers ball club. B. POWER FORWARD Power forward could either be covered by Derrick Alston or Derrick Coleman. IF(and this is a HUGEIF) Coleman shows up to play every once in a while, whether he is too lazy, plain dogging it, out of shape, or injured, he will provide a solid all-star caliber player to the Sixers frontcourt. Coleman has the ability to nail the outside jumper, has some nifty low-post moves, and has decent dribbling ability. However, he must also watch his balooning weight...Alston, Thompson, or even Clarence Weatherspoon provide additional depth at this position. C. SMALL FORWARD Clarence Weatherspoon had a solid season last year. He had a total of 31 double-doubles for the Sixers and was the team's leading rebounder with 9.7 boards a game, and also was the team's leading shotblocker with 108 blocks for the season. He is the team's leader and one of its cornerstones at the team goes through another of its rebuilding periods. D. SHOOTING GUARD Jerry Stackhouse proved he was worthy of last year's number 3 selection. The former UNC Tarheel finished the season as the sixers leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points per game. However, he shot a dismal 41.4% from the floor. He is still learning the shooting guard position since he was a small forward during college. He still needs to work on his dribbling and 3 point shot, but is blessed with high hops and spectacular dunking ability. As long as he continues working on his game, Stackhouse will indeed become one of the league's premier guards and marquee attractions. Also coming off the bench for somefirepower in the backcourt were Trevor Ruffin, Sean Sutton, and Rex Walters. Ruffin in particular can light it up with his outside shootong ability, but needs to work on his consistency as well as defensive game. E. POINT GUARD Last year, John Lucas brought in Vernon Maxwell, an ex-Houston Rocket to fill in at the PG slot. However, he is more of a SG, and had difficulty in providing the team with a leader. He sure can provide offense a times, but is by no means a point guard. He tied for the team lead with 4.4 assists per game was third in scoring with 16.2 points per game. This is definitely where I believe the Sixers to be headed in their draft day selection II. Your Selection (and explanation) My selection was a tough one to make. I would definitely go after either a center, or a point guard. Since there are no great big men in this draft, the Sixers will most probably go after what is availabele. So here goes: "With the first pick of the 1996, Usenet NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Allen Iverson, PG from Georgetown." I knew it had to either be Marbury or Iverson, but Iverson was IMO the best player in this draft. What I mean by best player is that he is the most talented player. Also he will be able to make an immediate contribution to his team as well as as a major contribution for his team down the road. Iverson is solid in all aspects of the game, and is just an amazing player. His explosiveness off the dribble, and his amazing "hops" make him the biggest offensive threat of the NBA draft. In addition to his amazing offensive skills, he is a quick and solid defender. He really puts pressure on the opposition, leading Georgetown with 3.35 steals/per game. Also, he was named Big east defensive player of the year both this year, and last year, his freshman year. However, Iverson, is not a complete Point Guard. He needs to learn to pass the ball more. I'm sure that's something that will develop for Iverson. He hasn't needed to pass at all since he could always take it to the hole by himself. I'm sure he won't be reluctant to feed the ball to Stackhouse if they're running down the floor together III. Others considered (and why considered) Marcus Camby, Forward, UMASS: Camby was named player of the year by an assortment of organizations for his outstanding all around play in guiding UMASS to the final four. Camby is a talented player that who was also both an offensive and defense presnece for the Minutemen. He is a talented low-post player, is quick off the dribble, and has good touch on his jumpoer. In addition, he is a defensive menace with great shot blocking and shot-altering ability. Some knocks I've read is that although he is 6'11", he is still a wirey 220 lbs thin. I'm sure he'll definitely be hitting those weights. Stephon Marbury, Point Guard from Georgia Tech." Marbury is also a talented player. He is a talented passer, as well as has a lightning quick crossover dribble, and good range on his jumper. What is most important tomany is that Marbury can pass ...During his freshman season, he was needed to dish the ball off to teammates and gladly accepted this role, and excelled as well in guiding Georgia Tech to the ACC Championship. Also, he proved to be one of the team's goto guys when it became necessary. I wish he would have stayed another year, but despite his youth, he will certainly be a top 5 pick. He has great potential Ray Allen, SG/SF UCONN: I like this guy too! He is a great player also. He is a tremendous player. He has a sweet, soft touch on his outside jumper. He can take it to the hole and elevate! However, his defense is a little suspect, but I'm sure he'll be working hard to improve his team. He is the reason for UCONN's great success this year. His clutch play helped carry UCONN to big wins over tough BIGEAST rivals. Ray Allen is the real deal. This guy will be a fine NBA player. IV. Who the team will probably take I know it it will definitely be a PG, but who? I think they will probably take Iverson...You can't go wrong here. I know that both Iverson and Marbury will be stars in this league, and right now it might be good to go with Iverson. Since the Sixers are moving into a new building for this upcoming season, Iverson could provide some of the showtime they need to fill the new arena. V. Other moves that the team should make The Sixers should aim to re-sign the following free-agents: Derrick Alston, Tony Massenburg, Sean Higgins, Vernon Maxwell, Ed Pinckney, Trevor Ruffin, Greg Sutton, and LaSalle Thompson. Maybe the Sixers could try pursuing a free agent. I'm not sure how much $$$$ that they have to work with, but maybe they could work on signing an able-bodied big man or some veteran backcourt help. They should also make sure Derrick Coleman, former #1 overall selection by the Nets, and former Rookie of the Year, keeps himself in shape over this off-season. They need to get this into his head. If he shows up to training camp overweight (last report he was 280), then they should waive him, or just get rid of him. The Sixers need commitment from its players, and if DC is gonna continue getting his hefty salary, then he'd better produce. And most importantly, Owner Pat Croce, and GM Brad Greenberg need to bring in a solid coach. They need someone who will discipline his players into playing defense and playing a team game, and mold this team into a group of winners. Who could this be? Well, possibly Bob Hill who might be let go from his current coaching job with the Spurs. Other possible candidates include Chris Ford, Allen Bristow, or Phil Jackson(Well, he hasn't finished negotiating his contract with Bulls management yet, but prolly doesn't even want to *think* about inheriting this lovely job of being coach of philly) What I've heard is that after ex-UMASS coach Calipari signed with the Nets, that the Sixers will pursue Portland Trail Blazer's Asst Coach John Davis to rebuild this team. Look for Davis to be named coach within the next week. =====================================================================