{"id":142710,"date":"2025-06-01T08:46:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T12:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=142710"},"modified":"2025-06-01T08:46:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T12:46:47","slug":"4-potential-philadelphia-76ers-draft-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/01\/4-potential-philadelphia-76ers-draft-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Potential Philadelphia 76ers Draft Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2025 NBA Draft only a few weeks away, there\u2019s an overwhelming assumption that the Philadelphia 76ers have shortlisted the prospects they\u2019re considering taking with the third overall pick. That is, if they refrain from making a draft night trade, which remains possible. Assuming that they do keep the pick<\/a> though, here are four potential targets.<\/p>\n

4 Potential Philadelphia 76ers Draft Targets<\/h2>\n

Derik Queen<\/h3>\n

The Sixers already have Joel Embiid<\/a>, Adem Bona<\/a> and Andre Drummond<\/a> at center. However, none of them can help Philadelphia quite like Maryland\u2019s proficient freshman Derik Queen<\/a>, who averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Embiid is an MVP-level performer when healthy, there are big question marks<\/a> about how his knees will hold up in the short- or long-term. Drummond, who has a\u00a0player option for 2025-26, is more of a rotational big than a starter at this stage of his career. Bona, who picked up steam towards the end of his rookie campaign<\/a>, has limitations as a scorer.<\/p>\n

Queen could be the most skilled center in his draft class. With that being said, this may be the Sixers best chance to replace Embiid with another center capable of being a featured scorer. After all, if all goes as planned, they won\u2019t have a potential lottery pick next summer.<\/p>\n

Tre Johnson<\/h3>\n

When thinking about long-term potential, Texas freshman Tre Johnson<\/a> is an archetypal top-three pick. In 2024-25, the 19-year-old averaged 19.9 points per game, shooting 39.7 percent from 3. Those numbers aside, he\u2019s not the perfect prospect.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a superb shot-maker but his shot-selection needs work. He has the potential to become a solid defender but his technique and intensity need to improve. He has nascent passing ability but needs more reps to make that a hallmark of his game.<\/p>\n

Still, when taking the good with the bad, Johnson is a worthy candidate at No. 3. The fact that he can play off-ball and at either wing position with his length and athleticism only helps.<\/p>\n

After the season combo guard Jared McCain<\/a> had, the Sixers will want to maximize him as much as possible. Yet, starting point guard Tyrese Maxey<\/a> may need to take the reins from Embiid.<\/p>\n

Ace Bailey<\/h3>\n

Rutgers freshman Ace Bailey<\/a>, who averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steal per game in 2024-25, is one of the more polarizing prospects.<\/p>\n

His detractors are not fans of his shot diet or playmaking instincts, to put it mildly. Those who are in his corner have compared him to<\/a> NBA stars Tracy McGrady<\/a>, Paul George<\/a> and Kevin Durant<\/a>. The truth usually being somewhere in the middle, the question is just how high is Bailey\u2019s ceiling, really?<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mar 9, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Ace Bailey (4) is defended by Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) during the second half at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If Philadelphia were to select the confident 18-year-old, they\u2019d have an advantage in his development. George is on their team and without a splash trade he\u2019ll continue to be. Having him around to mentor Bailey on a daily basis could pay dividends. For all the flak he gets, he\u2019s still a nine-time All-Star.<\/p>\n

Ironically, George could be grooming his own replacement. However, he\u2019s so multi-positional, it\u2019s not as if he can\u2019t play alongside Bailey.<\/p>\n

Drake Powell<\/h3>\n

To this point, the focus has been on who the 76ers will select with the third overall pick. Yet, Philly also has a second-round pick, which is slotted at 35th overall.<\/p>\n

At that point in the draft, they could target either the best player available. Prospects that are currently projected to be selected in the first round could slide on draft day. However, if the Sixers are focused on adding a specific piece, a 3-and-D wing could serve them well. To that point, they ranked 27th in 3-point percentage (.341) and 26th in defensive rating (118.2) in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, Philadelphia should draft UNC freshman Drake Powell<\/a> if he\u2019s still available. The North Carolina native is rumored to be rising up<\/a> draft boards, so he may not be. Nevertheless, with his skillset and physical attributes, he\u2019s a player that could be valuable to the Sixers for a number of years.<\/p>\n

In 2024-25, Powell averaged 7.4 points per game and shot 37.9 percent from 3.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the 2025 NBA Draft only a few weeks away, there\u2019s an overwhelming assumption that the Philadelphia 76ers have shortlisted the prospects they\u2019re considering taking with the third overall pick. That is, if they refrain from making a draft night trade, which remains possible. Assuming that they do keep the pick though, here are four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":142911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1608,62,556,3],"tags":[49399,49871,50150,267,98,50,49827],"class_list":["post-142710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76ers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","tag-ace-bailey","tag-derik-queen","tag-drake-powell","tag-joel-embiid","tag-nba-draft","tag-paul-george","tag-tre-johnson"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142710"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142912,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142710\/revisions\/142912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}