Three Potential Targets for the Sixers' Second-Round Draft Pick

For the first time in three years, the Sixers may actually be involved in the draft beyond the first round. Here's who they might look at if so.

Even if you’ve resigned yourself to the notion that Daryl Morey is trading the first-round pick for the sake of acquiring veteran talent, there’s still plenty of reason to watch the 2024 NBA Draft as a Sixers fan. 

Whereas last year the Sixers entered draft night with zero picks and decided to stay out of the ordeal altogether, Morey and Co. are coming into Barclays Center on June 26 with both the 16th and 41st overall pick. Most of the attention has (deservedly) gone to what the Sixers do with the 16th pick, but that 41st pick isn’t nothing. It’s in the top half of the second round, a range where plenty of undervalued prospects are still available. The Sixers getting a meaningful rotation player for next year’s team is a real potential outcome for that pick, even if it’s not a likely one.

This is one of the weakest NBA draft classes in recent memory. Some might respond that where this class lacks in star-end talent, it makes up for in overall depth, but even that strikes me as more of a cliché than reality. But what a weak class does mean is this — the Sixers could very easily get a prospect they have ranked in their own personal top 30, or even top 20, with the 41st overall pick. When there’s a lack of agreement on who the best prospects are, it’s very easy for the one you like to fall to the range where you’re drafting. 

Here are three players that the Sixers should target with the 41st pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

KJ Simpson — Guard, Colorado

2023-24 Stats: 19.7 PTS, 5.8 REB, 4.9 AST, 1.6 STL, 43.4 3PT%, 60.6 TS%

Measurements: 6-foot-0.25 inches, 187 pounds, 6-foot-4.5 wingspan, 21.9 years-old

KJ Simpson is a classic second-round prospect. He’s an upperclassman who had a fantastic final season for his college team and was one of the better players in the nation, yet there are also very real concerns about how someone of his size and athleticism can succeed in the NBA. 

Measuring just barely over 6-feet, Simpson is tied with Jamal Shead as the shortest player in the entire class. However, his tape is that of an elite guard. Through his first two seasons at Colorado, he’d already displayed incredible handles and passing capability, but never shot above even 30% from three. That changed in 2023-24, as Simpson returned to the Buffs for his junior season and emerged as one of the best shooters in the entire country, cashing 43.4% of his triples while attempting 4.9 a game. 

He came back not only to shoot better, but in more versatile ways. Of the 79 threes Simpson made last season, 30 came off the dribble, per Synergy. He shot threes at difficult angles, over the contests of defenders, and from incredibly deep distances. One-year shooting leaps can be a red flag for some prospects, but the degree to which Simpson became an elite shooter this year feels sustainable. 

Punishing under and drop coverages is important to Simpson because he’s so good at everything else with the ball in his hands. His handle is great, as it is for most diminutive, jitterbug point guards. Defenses knew Simpson always wanted to get back to his right hand, they could do little to stop him, as he was often too quick and too crafty for any defender to stay in front of him while guarding a ball screen. Simpson only made 55.2% of his at-rim attempts, a pretty middling conversion rate that often shows up as one of the biggest problems with small guards. However, unlike other small players, Simpson still put pressure on the rim constantly, as he was one of just seven players to attempt over 200 shots at the rim while standing 6-foot-2 or shorter, per BartTorvik. 

Simpson is also a slick passer, especially when throwing hit-aheads in transition, finding rollers in tight windows, or entering the ball to the post at difficult angles — a skill that is always coveted on Embiid-centric teams. While he’s not much of a dynamic skip passer (that specific skill comes easier to taller advantage creators), Simpson is fully capable of running an offense with the ball in his hands. 

One of the first things I look for in a small guard prospect is whether they play like a possessed maniac on the court (the T.J. McConnell factor, if you will). In a sport that discriminates based on height more than any other, you have to have a wild demeanor and mindset to survive if you’re just the size of a normal human being. Simpson checks this box thoroughly. 

Though he’s quite small, Simpson does have a good bit of bounce to him, as evidenced by his quality rebounding numbers, and the 11 dunks he recorded this past season. Even when he’s unsuccessful, Simpson isn’t afraid to go for it and rise up over a massive defender while trying to punch it home. He’s also extremely McConnell- and Kyle Lowry-coded in that he’s always fighting to get the ball back after his own mistake, be it a missed shot or a turnover. Simpson’s tape is littered with plays where he loses control of the ball, only for him to immediately lunge at that same opponent and take the ball right back. 

Simpson has his limitations. He struggles to finish through burly centers in the paint, and though he’s fundamentally sound on defense, he’s an easy target for teams to hunt, either via switches or in basic pick and roll coverage. Such is the life of a 6-foot point guard. 

Still, he is by all means a quality point guard, and if he can survive physically in the league, there’s little doubt in my mind he can be a quality bench piece for any team. There is a question as to whether he’ll still be available with the 41st pick, as mock drafts for this class are all over the place. As recently as Tuesday, The Ringer has him being selected with the 27th overall pick, while Yahoo has him falling all the way to the 53rd pick. There’s no way to be sure of where he’ll wind up. 

Additionally, it’s worth noting that most current mock drafts have the Sixers already taking a guard with the 16th overall pick, be it Bub Carrington, Isaiah Collier, Jared McCain, Devin Carter — take your pick. Fact is, if the Sixers don’t move the 16th overall pick, there’s likely to be a run on first-round guards in the exact range they’re slotted to pick, and it seems unlikely the team would double dip on small players with their second-round choice. 

But if it is a wing or a center in the first round, or if the Sixers have already traded pick 16, Simpson at 41 would be a very nice pick. 

Jonathan Mogbo — Forward, San Francisco

2023-24 Stats: 14.2 PTS, 10.1 REB, 3.6 AST, 1.6 STL, 0.8 BLK, 64.8 TS%

Measurements: 6-foot-6.25 inches, 217.2 pounds, 7-foot-2 wingspan, 22.6 years-old

Zach Edey and William Kyle III. 

That’s the entire list of college basketball players who finished last season with more total dunks than San Francisco’s Jonathan Mogbo. However, while Edey and Kyle’s heights clock in as 7-foot-4 and 6-foot-9, respectively, Mogbo measured in at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine at just over 6-foot-6, a fairly short mark for someone who played center at the college level. 

That lack of height did little to slow Mogbo, as the former JUCO player turned second-round sleeper dunked the ball an astounding 86 times in 33 games last season. 

With his elite strength, length, and vertical burst, Mogbo is the rare small-ball center who’s also a terrifying lob threat. He’s not perfect in the short roll, as his handling and playmaking often leave a bit to be desired, but if a weak side defender ever forgets to tag the roll, a decent pass is all Mogbo needs to elevate and detonate on the rim.  

San Francisco almost treated him like a mini-Zion during his lone year with the team, with guards setting inverted ball screens for him in the paint, hoping to clear any runway where he could pressure the rim. While Mogbo’s handle isn’t anything special, he dribbles the ball far better than the average mid major center, and could take advantage of any crease the ball screen might give him to pressure the rim. 

Mogbo played center for the Dons because he has virtually no jumper to speak of. In his two years D-I play at Missouri State and San Francisco, he attempted just two three-point attempts and shot only 57.8% on 185 free throw attempts. 

His lacking touch and overall coordination on more advanced driving moves is evident on drives and isolations where he doesn’t fully beat his defender off his first move. Mogbo is a rising prospect because he can create advantages in ways that other players can’t. If a defender makes a mistake, Mogbo has the top-tier athleticism to make him pay for it. But if a defender is sound and forces Mogbo to a counter move, that’s when chaotic floaters and learners go hurling toward the rim with little chance of going in. 

Defensively, Mogbo is a classic case of a player who could be very good in due time. He has flashes of on-ball brilliance where he uses his athleticism to mirror a guard on the perimeter perfectly, and his strength keeps him from ever being bullied by a taller player. However,  there’s also myriad clips where he simply loses track of who he’s guarding, gets way too jumpy and falls for the laziest of shot fakes, and where he simply doesn’t contest a shot at the rim because he didn’t understand that it was his job to do so. 

Mogbo offers a unique proposition: At the 41st pick, there will probably be more proven college players still available, players whose shooting and feel for the game make them easier fits on a team that wants to win now. But with any of those older, “safer” players, there’s the chance they don’t have the pure athleticism and size needed to hang at the NBA level. For all of Mogbo’s flaws, there’s zero doubt he has real NBA athleticism. He’s grown remarkably well since first joining the team at Independence Community College in 2020, and if he continues at that rate, he might hit the highest ceiling of anyone picked in the second round this year.

Zion-lite sounds like an outlandish thing to say (and to be clear, in 99% of worlds, he is NOT hitting that outcome), but Mogbo has the outlier physical tools needed to hit a freakishly high ceiling for a second round pick. He could be a complete nothing pick altogether. He could be just an end of the bench, knuckleball center option that throws opponents off. But he also could be one of the very best players in this class if everything goes right in his development, which is intriguing to say the least. 

Isaiah Crawford — Wing, Louisiana Tech

2023-24 Stats: 16.3 PTS, 6.2 REB, 2.4 AST, 2.1 STL, 1.7 BLK, 41.4 3PT%, 57.9 TS%

Measurements: 6-foot-6 inches, 220 pounds, 7-foot-0.5 wingspan, 22.6 years-old

Through 115 career games played at Louisiana Tech, Isaiah Crawford made 39.3% of his 321 three-point attempts. Cross that with the real NBA size he has at 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot wingspan, and he seems like a prototypical three-and-D prospect. 

But closer inspection reveals a different type of player, one who thrives off bizarre post-ups and making funky mid-range shots at difficult angles. 

Possessing size, strength and a delicate touch, Crawford prefers operating with his back to the basket rather than facing it, as his handle is somewhat shaky in the open floor. 

Still, this skill is additive to Crawford’s value as a three-and-D wing at the NBA level, as he’s fully capable of spotting up off-ball and hitting an open three the moment the ball finds him. Per Synergy, Crawford shot 29-for-70 (41.4%) catch-and-shoot threes this past season, which included an astounding 20-for-40 (50%) on unguarded catch-and-shoot threes. 

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It’s a pretty simple sell — Crawford has the body type and the shooting stroke of an NBA rotation wing. His funky post fades are just a cherry on top of what he can do. In a league that loves double drag/77 actions up top (i.e. double ball screen actions), Crawford can thrive as a pick-and-pop shooter. 

As one might guess, Crawford has some significant flaws given that he’s largely projected as a second round pick. His handle isn’t quite where it should be for a perimeter-focused player, and while he’s not incapable of making good reads and passes, he’s not any kind of dynamic playmaker.

Often, Crawford would slow the Tech offense down to get into his back-you-down, Marcus Morris-style post-up game. He’d pass up better, open looks from deep to instead get the offense moving at his preferred pace, and whenever he got into that post-up rhythm, he was rarely looking to kick the ball back out to his teammates. Scoring tunnel vision is one of his bigger weaknesses. 

Crawford was by far the best player on his college team, and shot better from three than all but one of the guards on the La. Tech roster. He’d probably be much more inclined to kick the ball out instead of force up a mid-range jumper if it was Tyrese Maxey and Buddy Hield who were spotting up around him instead. Guys who were the primary options in college scaling down to good Three-and-D roles in the NBA is a tale as old as time (if you don’t believe me, do yourself a favor and watch Robert Covington’s old Tennessee State highlights). The world where Crawford relegates his middy fadeaways to a once-a-game option and instead becomes a hyper-efficient play finisher is easy to see. 

Tack all of that on top of Crawford having some monster defensive indicators (he was quite literally the only player in all of college basketball last season to average at least 2.1 steals and 1.7 blocks per game), and he has all the making of a rotation wing at the NBA level. He’ll need to start processing the game a bit quicker, and at nearly 23 years old he clearly had an edge over younger opponents this past year, but his positives largely outweigh his negatives. If the Sixers walk out of this draft with serviceable wing depth via Crawford, it would be a huge win.  

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Daniel Olinger is a writer for the Rights To Ricky Sanchez, and author of “The Danny” column, even though he refuses to be called that in person. He can be followed on X @dan_olinger.

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