Thursday, June 21, 2007

A three-headed monster with the 12th pick?

I just spent the last half-hour perusing draft websites, and I think it's clear that no one has any idea who the 76'ers are really interested in. It seems like the draft "experts" are focusing on the trio of Jeff Green, Al Thornton, and Julian Wright.

In the mock drafts, Al Thornton seems like the slightly trendier pick (he's the choice of the Sport's Guy and DraftExpress), but Jeff Green (the SB Nation mock draft selection) and Julian Wright (the choice of HoopsHype) also have their supporters. The choices made in all of these drafts seems to depend both on the drafter's personal comparison of these three players combined with which of the three are projected to still be available at that point.

Assuming that the 76'ers really are likely to pick one of these players (and not the mediocre power forward that history tells us should be drafted 12th), it seems like Julian Wright and Jeff Green would be the Sixers' preferred pick. After all, the only thing I've seen in the Philly papers about their preference is this brief snippet:
So players whom the Sixers like, such as Chinese power forward Yi Jianlian, Kansas forward Julian Wright and Washington center Spencer Hawes, could be available. Of course, all three may be taken. The Sixers haven't hidden their affection for Georgetown forward Jeff Green, but he could go fifth to 10th.
Al Thornton has his workout with the Sixers this coming Monday, so his stock might change radically over the next few days.

[Update: Chris Ekstrand, over at CNNSI, also gives the thumbs up to Thornton.)

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