The 2016 NBA Draft Winners and Losers

With the NBA Draft now firmly behind us, it’s time to take a look at which teams stand to come into next season in great shape, and which will continue wilting down the long hard road of despair.  Here are the big winners and losers from the 2016 NBA Draft:

 

Winners – Philadelphia 76ers – It’s pretty easy to win these drafts when you have the top pick (in addition to 3 first-rounders), but the Sixers went above and beyond.  Their fledgling team acquired superstar big man Ben Simmons, who could lead the team to the promise land of mere respectability.  Additionally, two great shooters in Timothe Luwawa and Furkan Korkmaz could help the team in their scoring department, and perhaps develop into decent players themselves.

 

Phoenix Suns – Sometimes it takes a big trade to make something happen, and the Sun did just that in this draft.  With the 4^th pick they took Dragan Bender, a 7-ft. tall center who’s got great ball and passing skills.  But while Bender was the obvious choice, their smart trade back to the top 10 to land Marquese Chriss gives them another potentially dominant forward.  While both players are still just 18, they have wonderful potential and could make the Suns’ front line very formidable one day.

 

Losers – Boston Celtics – Much was expected on draft night for this team that is just a star player away from contending in the East, and was loaded with trade bait in the form of 8 draft picks.  However, no blockbuster deal materialized and the Celtics ended up with the likes of Jaylen Brown, Guerschon Yabasele, and Ante Zizic.  And while one day they may be good, the Celtics’ fans were hoping for something tangible now.

 

Sacramento Kings – Perhaps the Kings had targeted a player who went before their 8^th pick, but their trade back to 13^th left them with a very questionable Georgios Papagiannis, a center who will be unlikely to break into a very crowded position on the team.  Perhaps there is going to be some serious re-organization with this club, but right now it looks like the Kings flopped big time.

Bad Year for Philadelphia 76ers Allen Iverson

We are sure that most NBA fans have heard that Philadelphia 76ers Allen Iverson is gone for the rest of the season due to a lot of personal issues that have come to light. 

Just last week, Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Ed Stefanski announced that Iverson would be missing the rest of this season.  This was after Iverson missed several games and the NBA All-Star game last month in order to attend to his daughter who had undisclosed health issues.  Just a few days after the announcement by Stefanski, Iverson’s wife filed for divorce. 

Several NBA sources are also citing that Iverson has even more problems to deal with.  Sources indicate that Iverson is dealing with some alcohol and gambling issues.  He has allegedly been banned from casinos in Atlantic City and Detroit. 

During Iverson’s career, he was an NBA MVP; an 11-time NBA All-Star; and was the NBA leading scorer four times.  Many are wondering if this NBA great will be able to return to the NBA once he is able to sort out his life.   The road to recovery will be rough, but we wish Iverson all the best during this time of turmoil.

AAA Sports Memorabilia carries a great selection of NBA sports memorabilia, including memorabilia that celebrates Iverson’s career in the NBA.  AAA Sports Memorabilia has everything from autographed basketballs, autographed jerseys, signed photos, and non-autographed collectibles for the Philadelphia 76ers and other NBA teams.  If you are looking for something specific and you don’t see it on our website, please let us know at cs@aaasportsmemorabilia.com as we probably have it in stock.