By having the third overall pick, as well as five second round picks, the Sixers have a lot of homework to do before the NBA Draft on June 25. They have been, and will continue to do their due diligence on a number of prospects, and based on the nature of their picks, those prospects could be high-lottery prospects, as well as fringe draft picks, as they have two of the draft's final three picks.
Below are notes on three players they are reportedly going to workout, or have worked out already, and the sampling includes one lottery pick, a potential second-rounder and a likely undrafted player.
Emanuel Mudiay
According to Larry Brown, who is linked to Emmanuel Mudiay as well as any other American sports figure, the point guard will workout for the Sixers, among other teams. SNY.TV’s Adam Zagoria is reporting that he will workout for the Lakers, Knicks and then Sixers, in that respective order.
D’Angelo Russell is viewed as the favorite to land at No. 3 and be selected by the Sixers, but Brown opines why Mudiay would be a better fit, provided in Zagoria’s piece.
“Emmanuel is a point guard, I don’t think D’Angelo Russell is a point guard,” he said. “But I think D’Angelo Russell is a great player. He can pass the hell out of the ball, he can shoot it with range. I don’t think he’ll ever be the defender that Emmanuel is and I don’t think he’ll ever run a team the way Emmanuel does but he also doesn’t need to do that the way he plays.”
The Lakers, Sixers and Knicks select second, third and fourth, respectively. It is widely believed that the Timberwolves will select Kentucky center Karl Anthony-Towns with their first overall pick.
Will Cummings
On Monday, we noted that the Sixers would workout former Villanova standout Darrun Hilliard. Today, they worked out another former Big 5 guard, this time Temple’s Will Cummings.
According to Philly.com’s Marc Narducci, Cummings made his third visit to workout with an NBA team today, after working out for both the Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards before today’s return to the Philadelphia area. The Jacksonville, Fla. native will also workout with the Brooklyn Nets and Pheonix Suns, in hopes of being drafted in the second round.
An All-Athletic American Conference first teamer, Cummings averaged nearly 15 points per game for the Owls, who finished in the semifinals of the NIT Tournament. He told Narducci his immediate goal for now is to be in an NBA camp this summer.
Kevin Pangos
Cummings was not the only guard the Sixers worked out on Wednesday. According to Liberty Ballers’ Jake Pavorsky, they also brought in former Gonzaga Bulldog Kevin Pangos. Both were at their practice facility, PCOM, together.
Pangos was a member of the 35-3 No. 1 seeded Bulldogs team that was knocked off by Duke, the eventual champion. He ran the point for the-tenth best scoring team in the nation, averaging 5 assists per game. The native of Canada also shot 43.1% from three.
