How will Sixers fare in NBA draft lottery after clinching fifth-worst record?

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 11, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — The NBA draft lottery is going to be interesting.

The Sixers secured the league’s fifth-worst record on Friday with a convincing 124-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. With one game remaining, the Sixers (24-57) were 2 1/2 losses ahead of the league’s sixth-worst Brooklyn Nets, who played late Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

They’ll have a 10.5% chance to land the No. 1 pick in next month’s lottery. And the Sixers will have a 63.9% chance of keeping their top-six protected draft pick by clinching the fifth-worst record. The draft pick will go to the Oklahoma City Thunder in June’s draft if it finishes outside of the top six.

Give the Sixers credit for their masterclass in keeping your draft pick. They have resorted to a full-blown tank job, highlighted by the fact that they typically rest at least eight rotations players.

On Friday, they were without 12 players. As a result, rookie Adem Bona, second-year player Ricky Council IV and two-way player Jeff Dowtin IV were the only available Sixers who joined the team before February.

So it wasn’t surprising that they unveiled their NBA record 54th starting lineup: Lonnie Walker IV, Marcus Bagley, Jared Butler, Bona and Council.

The reserves consisted of Dowtin, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Colin Castleton. Like Dowtin, Hood-Schifino is a two-way player. Bagley is on his second 10-day contract, while Friday was the ninth day of Castleton’s 10-day deal.

And the Sixers kept to their normal script. They played hard and made sure things stayed competitive for three quarters only to see their opponents break the game open in the fourth quarter.

This time, the Hawks (39-42) went on a 20-7 run to take a commanding, 120-102, lead with 3 minutes, 22 seconds remaining.

Bagley had a career night for the Sixers. The power forward finished with a career-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting, making 4 of 8 3-pointers. The 6-foot-8, 215-pounder previously made just 1 of 21 3s in his first eight games. Bagley also had 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal against the Hawks.

The Sixers had six double-figure scorers with Butler leading the way with 25 points to go with seven assists. Castleton finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go with eight rebounds.

Hawks All-Star Trae Young produced game highs of 36 points and 11 assists, while Caris LeVert scored a season-high 31 points. Mouhamed Gueye added 10 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

But now the focus is on the draft lottery.

Will the Sixers keep their draft pick away from the Thunder? If so, what will they do with it? Make a selection in June’s draft? Or trade the pick?

They’ll definitely have options.

The upcoming draft is projected to be one of the best in several years. Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe and Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are among the headliners.

The Sixers would benefit from adding a young standout to play alongside Tyrese Maxey and take some of the pressure off Joel Embiid and Paul George, who have both had disappointing injury-plagued seasons.

Embiid, who played in just 19 games because of an ongoing left knee injury, had arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday. Meanwhile, George, who played in 41 games, received injections in the left adductor muscle in his groin and his left knee on March 17.

Even if Embiid and George are healthier and more impactful next season, there’s no available cap space to add impactful players in free agency. So the Sixers had no choice but to tank once this season turned into a lost cause.

Now, after clinching the fifth-worst record, all of the attention turns to the lottery.