A look at the last 20 Sixers first round picks

By: Brandon Apter, managing editor

With the NBA Draft just hours away, the Philadelphia 76ers are ready to put "The Process" behind them and start building for the future. They are likely going to use the No.1 pick to select Ben Simmons and are also ramping up their efforts to acquire the No.3 overall pick from the Boston Celtics.

Over the past 10 years, the Sixers have made some questionable picks, some strong ones and just ones that never panned out. 20 years ago, the last time the team held the top pick, Philadelphia used it to select Georgetown guard Allen Iverson. Let's take a look at each of the Sixers first round picks since they last got to pick first overall.

1997 - Keith Van Horn - 2nd overall - The 6-foot-10 forward played nine years in the league. Immediately after being selected by Philadelphia, his rights were traded to the Nets, where he played five seasons. The Sixers acquired Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch from the Nets prior to the 2002 season in exchange for Dikembe Mutombo. Philadelphia dealt Van Horn to the Knicks in a four-team trade in July 2003.
1998 – Larry Hughes – 8th overall - This was a disappointing one for the Sixers. Hughes played in just 100 games, six starts, for Philadelphia. He was drafted ahead of both Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki. The Sixers traded him to the Warriors in February 2008.
1999 - No first round pick
2000 - Speedy Claxton – 20th overall - Selected out of Hofstra University by the Sixers, Claxton played one year in Philadelphia, averaging 7.2 points and 3.0 assists as Eric Snow's backup.
2001 – Samuel Dalembert – 26th overall - The 6-foot-11 center played eight seasons with the Sixers, averaging 8.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He was traded to the Kings for Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes in June 2010.
2002 - Jiri Welsch – 16th overall - Philadelphia drafted him and immediately sent him to the Warriors for a future first round pick. He only played four seasons in the NBA.
2003 - No first round pick
2004 – Andre Iguodala - 9th overall - By far one of the most effective defenders in the NBA, Iguodala was seen by many as Allen Iverson's replacement, though his strong suit was defense, not offense. Iggy played eight years with the Sixers, averaging 15.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He was named the 2014-15 NBA Finals MVP as a member of the Warriors. Iguodala was part of the four-team trade that brought the Andrew Bynum fiasco to Philadelphia.
2005 – No first round pick
2006 - Thabo Sefolosha – 13th overall - Thabo never suited up for the Sixers, who traded him on draft night to the Bulls for Rodney Carney and a 2007 second rounder. Sefolosha spent three seasons in Chicago, six with the Thunder and the last two with the Hawks. He's a career 44.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc
2007 – Thaddeus Young – 12th overall - Young was one of the most liked Sixers over the last decade, always playing gritty defense, putting up strong offensive numbers while also being a team player during the beginning of the teams' losing years. In seven seasons with Philadelphia, Young averaged 13.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, shooting 50 percent from the floor. He was sent to the Timberwolves in 2007 in a deal that netted the Sixers a future first round pick, Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved. The T'Wolves traded him to the Nets in 2015 for Kevin Garnett. It's just been reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical podcast that the Nets have dealt Young to the Pacers.
2007 – Daequan Cook – 21st overall - He was traded to the Miami Heat on draft night for Jason Smith.
2008 – Marreese Speights – 12th overall - In three seasons with the Sixers, Speights played in 205 games, but started just four. He averaged 7.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in the reserve role for Philadelphia before being traded to Memphis for draft picks. He signed with the Warriors in July 2013 and has averaged 8.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game.
2009 – Jrue Holiday – 17th overall - Holiday provided stability for the Sixers at the point guard position for the better part of four seasons. He averaged 13.4 points and 5.8 assists per game, shooting 43.9 percent from the floor in a Sixers uniform. He was named to the Eastern Conference All-Stars in 2013, but was traded to New Orleans in July for Nerlens Noel and a 2014 draft pick, which ended up being Elfrid Payton, who was then traded to Orlando for the rights to Dario Saric
2010 – Evan Turner - 2nd overall - One of the most disappointing outcomes of the Sixers recent drafts has to be Turner. He has somewhat turned his career around with Boston, but never lived up to the potential of the slot in which he was selected. He spent a little more than three seasons with Philadelphia, averaging 11.5 points on 42.8 percent shooting and 5.5 rebounds per game. In February 2014, he was traded to the Pacers along with Lavoy Allen for Danny Granger and and 2015 second rounder.
2011 - Nikola Vucevic – 16th overall - It's plain and simple here. Vucevic wasn't utilized correctly under Doug Collins and was never given a chance to develop his game in his lone season with the Sixers. After averaging just 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds with Philadelphia, he's grown into one of the better centers in the league with Orlando. Since being traded, Nik is averaging 16.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Magic.
2012 – Maurice Harkless – 15th overall - Here's another disappointing one. He never suited up for the Sixers and was traded to the Magic in the four-player deal that involved Andre Iguodala, Nik Vucevic, Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard. He spent three seasons with the Magic, averaging 6.8 points per game before joining the Trail Blazers this past season.
2013 - Michael Carter-Williams – 11th overall - MCW put up terrific numbers on a bad team and looked to have cemented himself in Sam Hinkie's plans moving forward. He earned the 2013-14 Rookie of the Year award, but was sent to the Bucks in February 2015 in exchange for what is now the Lakers top-3 protected pick. MCW averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds in his rookie season. He hasn't had much success in Milwaukee, no thanks to injuries. He's played just 79 games over the last two seasons.
2014 – Joel Embiid – 3rd overall - Embiid is finally getting close to game action after foot surgeries have kept him from suiting up each of the last two seasons. Most recently, he's been cleared to begin light five-on-five scrimmaging, but will not participate in the Summer League.
2015 - Jahlil Okafor – 3rd overall - Okafor put up good offensive numbers his off-court issues and . He missed the last chunk of games due to a small meniscus tear in his right knee, but averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game before his injury.