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John Smallwood: Stefanski steps up to plate for Sixers in NBA draft
Golden State had the No. 3 pick and desperately wanted 7-6 center Shawn Bradley out of Brigham Young.
The Sixers, picking second, also wanted Bradley, so they threatened the Magic that they would take Hardaway if Orlando picked Bradley with the intention of trading him to Golden State.
Donte Greene of Syracuse may be selected by the Sixers with their 16th overall selection in the 2008 NBA draft. (Getty Images)
The Sixers got Bradley, the "Mistake from Salt Lake," while Orlando and Golden State made a compromise deal that sent Michigan center Chris Webber to the Warriors for Hardaway and three first-round picks.
North Carolina swingman Jerry Stackhouse wasn't a horrible selection at No. 3 in 1995, but Philadelphia homeboy Rasheed Wallace went at No. 4 and Kevin Garnett was No. 5.
An end to the curse looked as if it had come in 1996 when the Sixers got the No. 1 pick and made a slam dunk in choosing Allen Iverson.
But the next year, they only got the second overall pick when they needed the top pick to get Wake Forest center Tim Duncan, the only franchise-altering player in 1997 draft.
In '98, it was St. Louis guard Larry Hughes at No. 8 instead of Paul Pierce or Dirk Nowitzki.
In 2000, "Iverson-light" arrived in Hofstra guard Craig "Speedy" Claxton, and in 2002, Czech guard Jiri Welsch, who was shipped immediately to Golden State.
Larry Brown traded away the pick that would have had the Sixers in the 2003 LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade sweepstakes.
An earlier trade kept them out of the first round in 2005.
Still, things haven't been all bad recently.
Samuel Dalembert at No. 26 in 2001, Andre Iguodala at No. 9 in 2004 and Thaddeus Young at No. 12 in 2007 are key components in the Sixers' rebuilding.
Stefanski is up at the plate. A double scores two runners. A strikeout ends the inning.
Sixers' No. 1s
2008: 16, TBA
2007: 12, Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech; 21, *Daequan Cook, Ohio State; 30, *Petteri Koponen, Finland
2006: 13, *Thabo Sefolosha, Switzerland
2005: None
2004: 9, Andre Iguodala, Arizona
2003: None
