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2014 Draft Class Looks Like A Bust For Philadelphia 76ers One Year Later

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After the 2014 NBA Draft concluded, the Philadelphia 76ers walked away full of promise. Now almost one year later and their 2014 draft class looks like a complete bust.

Entering the 2014 NBA Draft, the 76ers possessed a total of seven picks, including two in the top 10 of the draft. With their first pick — No.3 overall — the Sixers selected Kansas center Joel Embiid. Despite having surgery on his injured right foot just days prior to the draft, Embiid was still drawing comparisons to the Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon. Shortly after selecting Embiid, the 76ers then selected point guard Elfrid Payton with the No. 10 overall pick. He was later traded to the Orlando Magic for a package of assets that included the draft rights to Dario Saric — the No. 12 overall pick. From there, the 76ers then went on to use their five second-round picks in a number of different ways. When things were all said and done, they walked away from the second round with K.J. McDaniels, Jerami Grant, Pierre Jackson, Vasilije Micic and Jordan McRae.

After the night was finished and the way-too-early grades were handed out, the 76ers’ class seemed like one full of potential. One year later, however, and the class — at least for right now — looks like nothing but a complete bust.

The problems with the 76ers’ 2014 draft class start right at the top. When the team selected the injured Embiid with the No. 3 overall pick, many expected him to endure a first season similar to Nerlens Noel – who just one year prior sat out the entire season while recovering from injury. And he did. Now one year later, both Embiid’s immediate and long-term future remain up in the air after earlier this month it was revealed that the navicular bone in his injured right foot still has yet to heal properly. This is not good news for the 76ers due to the fact that this exact injury has previously ended the careers of many big men including Yao Ming and Bill Walton.

After selecting Embiid, 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie then went to work. Originally possessing the No. 10 overall pick, Hinkie managed to swap picks with the Magic – moving back to No. 12 – and still land his guy Saric. In the process Hinkie was also able to collect some extra assets, including a 2015 second-round pick – now the No. 35 overall pick and a future first-round pick – the one they lost in the infamous Andrew Bynum trade.

Just like Embiid, the 76ers did not expect to see Saric in uniform for at least a year or possibly even two. But now it appears that they will be forced to wait even longer due to the fact that should he decide to wait until the 2017-18 season to come over to the NBA, Saric would no longer be bound by the league’s rookie wage scale and thus will be able to negotiate a free agent deal with the team allowing him to receive much more money.

Just like their two first-round selections, the 76ers second-round selections have yet to pan out either. Of the five players the 76ers selected in last year’s second round, only Grant made any sort of contribution to the team over the duration of the entire season. Of course, McDaniels started last season off with a bang, but at February’s trade deadline, the 76ers decided he was not a part of the their long-term plans, so they sent him to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Isaiah Canaan and a 2015 second-round draft pick – which turned out to be No. 37 overall.

Looking back, it is hard to fault the 76ers for the selection of Embiid, because although he came with some red flags, it is hard to justify them taking anyone else at that point in time. In the case of their other picks, Saric is someone who the 76ers may have gotten burned on.

In the midst of an ongoing rebuilding plan, the 2014 draft was supposed to be a place where the 76ers could begin stockpiling talent for the future. One year later, however, this was clearly not the case. The 76ers can ask their fans to be patient and wait all they want, but if they continue to have drafts like this one, it will be only a matter of time before the fans stop buying what they are selling.

Greg Sacidor is a Feature Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Greg_Sacidor or add him to your network on Google.

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