CHICAGO - Andre Miller's status is uncertain and the team needs a young player at the position, so the 76ers talked to two of the top point-guard prospects at the NBA's draft combine Thursday, and were expected to interview another before camp broke yesterday.
The Sixers own the 17th choice in the draft, to be held June 25. Tony DiLeo, their vice president and assistant general manager, and their director of player personnel, Courtney Witte, were spotted in Chicago. General manager Ed Stefanski was believed to be in town, too.
Ty Lawson, who led North Carolina to the NCAA national championship last spring, and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn both sat down with the Sixers' brass. Stephen Curry of Davidson said yesterday that he expected to do so.
All three are likely to be picked in the first round.
The 6-foot Lawson averaged 16.6 points and 6.2 assists last season as a junior for a squad that played an up-tempo game much like the Sixers favored.
"I met with them, and I'll probably be working out for them later on in June," Lawson said. "They have a lot of interest in me, so I'll be happy to go there."
The Sixers "fit me real well," he said. "They have athletic wings on the side, and going there could be the best situation for me."
The sturdy Flynn, who also is listed at 6-0, directed Syracuse to a 28-10 season and topped the Orangemen with 17.4 points and 6.6 assists per game.
The interview "went pretty well," said Flynn, who declared for the draft after his sophomore season. "They are an up-and-coming team . . . a team that in the playoffs this year really scared the Orlando Magic. That's a good situation and a good place to go."
Curry, 6-2, led the nation in scoring with 28.6 points per game, and also found time to dish out 5.6 assists for Davidson, which was 27-8. He left school after completing his junior season.
I'd love Flynn, but I doubt he'd be there and I want no part of Lawson. Absolutely no part of Lawson. I have this bad feeling that that's the guy they're going to go with. I really want Eric Maynor and feel like he'd be the best fit, but we'll see.
I want jrue holiday. I feel 2-3 years down the road he can be the second best player out of the draft aside from griffin. But he will proably be gone. In that case I am fine with maynor.
The team needs to draft Wayne Ellington and retain Andre Miller.
The Sixers need outside shooting and a healthy and productive Elton Brand.
__________________ Chick Hearn: This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are gettin' cool, the butter's gettin' hard, and the jellooooooo's jigglin'!
The 2009-2010 Los Angeles Lakers
PG: Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG: Kobe Bryant, Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic
SF: Ron Artest, Luke Walton, Adam Morrison
PF: Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Josh Powell
C: Andrew Bynum, D.J. Mbenga
The team needs to draft Wayne Ellington and retain Andre Miller.
The Sixers need outside shooting and a healthy and productive Elton Brand.
I actually like this idea. With Ellington though what you see is what you get. He is purely a shooter, but if he can do that on a consistent basis he could help Philadelphia.
I don't think they should draft Lawson. Ty needs to be placed in an offensive that plays at a breakneck pace. I'm a UNC fan and have watched him plenty of times he was born for D'antoni's offense. In the halfcourt game it's going to be purely based on his ability to hit the NBA 3. If he isn't hitting outside consistently (40% or higher) defenders can just sag off of him which negates any advantage in quickness. A team that plays a half-court oriented offense is taking a risk with Lawson.
The team needs to draft Wayne Ellington and retain Andre Miller.
The Sixers need outside shooting and a healthy and productive Elton Brand.
The Sixers need outside shooting but why settle for a limited prospect in Ellington just because he's a shooter? I know it's not a strong draft, but there's shooters all over the world and there will be some available in the second round.
I mean, honestly, if the Sixers were to either re-sign Miller or draft Ellington I'd be pissed.. but to do them together? I'd have a ****ing aneurysm.
The Sixers need to try to get one of the point guards, and if possible (not sure if they have a second) get either Marcus Thornton or Dionte Christmas. I really like Christmas as a fit in Philly. Hometown kid who can score, and would fight for minutes in his rookie season off the bench.
* Ty Lawson, North Carolina - "It fits me real well, because there are real athletic wings on the side, so going there would be the best situation for me."
* Jonny Flynn, Syracuse - "I talked to the 76ers the first day I got here and I think it went pretty well. An up-and-coming team that in the playoffs really scared the Orlando Magic, so that's a good situation, a good place to go.
"I think I would fit well. You've got Andre Miller in there so the first year you would learn from a veteran guy like that. So I have no problem coming off the bench and being a sponge and soaking up everything. Just be ready to play and spare him and go in and be a valuable asset to that team."
* Jrue Holiday, UCLA - "I think it went well. I really like the guys. I'm going out there to visit and try out for the team and I think I'll do well.
"They have a lot of athletes. They like to get up and run, get up and down the floor just like I do. I like pushing the ball. They have a really great point guard in Andre Miller and I could play behind him. He's a really smart player and he's been in the league a long time and I think he'd be a good guy to learn from."
* Jeff Teague, Wake Forest - "I had an interview with them. It went real well. They made me relaxed. I enjoyed talking to them, being around them. They're good people. They have an athletic, up-and-down team, that's the kind of game I like to play.
"I feel I can adjust my game to fit any style. I'm an up-and-down type of guy. In college we played an up-and-down style so any team that likes to get out and run, I feel that would be my style, but I'm willing to adjust."
The 76ers have announced they will work out five draft prospects, including North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson, on Friday at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
The NBA draft, in which the Sixers have the 17th overall pick, will be held June 25 at Madison Square Garden.
Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski has already said the team will look to draft a point guard or shooting guard. All five prospects working out Friday are guards.
The workout is scheduled for 10 a.m. Besides Lawson, the other four players are Toney Douglas, Stefon Jackson, Jodie Meeks, and Terrence Williams.
Some mock drafts project Lawson, the 6-foot speedster who averaged 16.6 points and 6.6 assists a game for the 2009 national champion Tar Heels, as the Sixers' pick at the 17th spot. The Sixers do not possess a second-round pick.
Douglas is a 6-1 combo guard from Florida State who averaged 21.5 points a game last season.
Jackson, from Texas-El Paso and a former Lutheran Christian star, is a 6-5 shooting guard who averaged 24.5 points a game last season.
Meeks, a 6-4 guard from Kentucky, averaged 23.7 points a game and shot 40.6 percent from the three-point line.
Williams, a 6-6 guard-forward from Louisville, averaged 12.5 points a game last season and shot 38.5 percent from the three-point line.
Stefanski has said the team will look for a guard, preferably one who can raise the Sixers from the last spot on the NBA's three-point-shooting list, where they have been for the last two seasons. But he said the team would choose the most talented player left on the board, regardless of specific skills.
Ty Lawson doesn’t have to search very far for an up-close look at his competition. Or the jump shot he so desperately seeks. It’s all right there in the same Washington, D.C. gym where the point guard that led North Carolina to a national title this year spends his days preparing for the NBA Draft.
Former Davidson star Stephon Curry and Lawson both train with workout guru Idan Ravin. That means every time they hit the court, Lawson gets a Jack Nicholson-type view of the silky smooth release and jump shot that makes NBA executives salivate. Curry is considered the top shooter in this year’s draft class. He also has prototypical point-guard size.
Lawson isn’t quite as smooth and measured just over 5-foot-11 at the NBA combine last week. It’s not bad, but it’s three inches shorter than Curry, who most mock drafts expect to be a top-10 pick despite playing his college career at a much smaller Carolina school, Davidson.
Lawson expects to be selected anywhere from 5th to 20th. He could be available when the 76ers select 17th in the June 25 NBA Draft.
“I just think with the way I play, with Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, I can be real good for this team,” Lawson said after finishing a predraft workout for the Sixers with four other prospects, not including Curry. “I like to play fast paced and things like that. I think I’m a good fit for this team.”
Louisville’s Terrence Williams, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, UTEP product and Philly native Stefon Jackson and Florida State’s Toney Douglas also showcased their skills Friday on the PCOM practice floor. Not coincidentally, with the Sixers in dire need of backcourt assistance, all are projected as NBA guards. This year’s draft crop is extremely backcourt heavy.
“Every draft is relative. It just so happens this year there are more 1’s and 2’s in the draft,” Sixers director of player personnel Courtney Witte said. “We are obviously aware of what can happen, what may happen. We’re not going to deviate from the need. The only time you are going to do that is if there are special players at that position. Obviously we had this workout today with guards. We’re certainly aware of what we need to improve upon.”
This could prove especially true if the Sixers’ current point guard Andre Miller walks this summer. Miller is an unrestricted free agent.
You've seen Lawson play more than I have, but I've watched Jameer since his senior year in HS. I'm not really seeing the comparison outside of their builds.
Both games are based on speed, getting into seams and lanes, finding the open man. Jameer's the better shooter now, but he didnt come into the league like that. I dont even think Lawson has to be exactly like Meer to succeed. Stay healthy, low turnovers, improved shooting, decent defense and he should be good to go.
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