Will Sixers have a 2025 1st-round pick? All the odds going into draft lottery originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A high-stakes date on the 2025 Sixers calendar has arrived.
Here are the essentials ahead of the NBA draft lottery:
When and where is the lottery?
The event will begin Monday at 7 p.m. ET in Chicago on ESPN. Jared McCain will represent the Sixers.
What do the Sixers need to keep their first-round pick?
The Sixers’ first-rounder this year is top-six protected because of the 2020 trade that sent Al Horford to the Thunder and brought Danny Green to the Sixers.
If the Sixers’ pick does not convey to the Thunder in 2025, it will become top-four protected in 2026 (and 2027, in the event the Sixers wind up with very high selections for two consecutive years).
As far as the Sixers’ 2025 outlook, it’s simple: A top-six lottery draw means they own their first-round pick. Anything outside of the top-six means they don’t. In that scenario, the Sixers would only have their second-rounder, which is No. 35.
The odds
The team’s top-six odds are 63.9 percent.
Here’s a rundown of the Sixers’ chances at every pick between No. 1 and No. 6:
- First: 10.5 percent
- Second: 10.5 percent
- Third: 10.6 percent
- Fourth: 10.5 percent
- Fifth: 2.2 percent
- Sixth: 19.6 percent
How do the Sixers view this draft?
Though Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is always open to trades, there’d clearly be plenty of logic in using a top-six pick.
“Definitely best player available,” Morey said on April 13 of his approach. “It has to be that in the draft for sure, but we see the pick as sort of a tool to upgrade the team. It will matter if it’s one, two, three, four, five, six or we just have the pick in the future. That could also happen. It’s just a tool to make the team better, but there’s obviously a good chance we take someone.
“In that case, it will just be the best player. I’ve never shied from that.”
The Sixers have generally done well on draft nights during Morey’s tenure.
They’ve made (and kept) first-round picks in three years under Morey, drafting Tyrese Maxey (No. 20), Jaden Springer (No. 28) and McCain (No. 16). The team’s second-rounders with Morey in charge have been Isaiah Joe, Paul Reed, Charles Bassey, Filip Petrusev and Adem Bona.
Who are the best prospects?
As always, experts’ opinions vary on the draft’s leading players. However, Cooper Flagg will be No. 1 anywhere you look. Flagg was fantastic in his freshman year at Duke, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals. And the 6-foot-9 forward doesn’t turn 19 years old until December.
Two Rutgers products are projected to go very early in the draft: Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Harper’s a big, crafty lefty lead guard. Bailey’s a 6-foot-10 shotmaker capable of draining tough jumpers.
Other names regularly found in mock draft top 10s include ultra-athletic Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe, sharpshooting Duke wing Kon Knueppel, high-scoring Texas guard Tre Johnson and 7-foot-2 Duke rim protector Khaman Maluach.
