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D'Angelo Russell a tantalizing possibility for 76ers

As he pored over game film and prepared his Penn State players for their second game against D'Angelo Russell and Ohio State last season, Pat Chambers devised what he believed to be a sound and smart game plan. Chambers grew up in Newtown Square and coached under Jay Wright at Villanova, and over the phone Monday, he had only to remember those recent study sessions and their aftermath to acknowledge how fortunate his hometown NBA team would be to draft Russell in June.

As he pored over game film and prepared his Penn State players for their second game against D'Angelo Russell and Ohio State last season, Pat Chambers devised what he believed to be a sound and smart game plan. Chambers grew up in Newtown Square and coached under Jay Wright at Villanova, and over the phone Monday, he had only to remember those recent study sessions and their aftermath to acknowledge how fortunate his hometown NBA team would be to draft Russell in June.

Russell had made just four of his 13 shots from the field against Penn State during a 20-point Buckeyes victory in Columbus on Feb. 11. Three weeks later, ahead of a rematch at the Bryce Jordan Center on March 4, Chambers trusted that the same strategy that the Nittany Lions had employed once would work again: Use several players to face-guard and trap Russell over the entire floor, disrupt him, wear him down.

It did work for the game's first 20 minutes; Russell had just nine points at halftime. Then, over a 31/2-minute stretch early in the second half, Russell hit three consecutive three-point shots, was fouled while dropping in a layup, and made the free throw - 12 points out of 13 for Ohio State. The Buckeyes won, 77-67. Russell finished with 28 points. He did not wear down.

"Pick your poison," Chambers said. "You want to take away his three? He's going to crush you in the paint. He can finish with either hand. He can drop it off for dunks. If you over-help, he can kick it out for threes. Just a remarkable talent."

Beyond the 19.3 points, the 5.7 rebounds, and the 5.0 assists he averaged for Ohio State in his only season of college basketball, Russell promises to be perhaps the most intriguing player in the draft, driving a debate that will define the 76ers' selection and maybe much of their future.

An NBA executive told The Inquirer last week that Russell is "the guy they want. That's the word around the league." That perception exists in part because the most valuable assets on the Sixers' roster are two post players, Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel, and it's natural to presume that the Sixers might covet Russell based solely on a desire to strengthen their backcourt, that they'd bypass both Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor for Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay.

Of course, Sam Hinkie has proved over his two years as the team's general manager that he doesn't abide knee-jerk presumptions, and his patience and thought process are what make the Sixers' draft approach so mysterious, particularly where Russell is concerned.

There is no chance - none - that Hinkie already has decided whom the Sixers will take. The NBA draft lottery isn't until May 19. The Sixers don't know when they'll pick in the first round or even how many picks they'll have. More, Hinkie has spoken openly of his willingness to wait as long as possible before committing to any course of action, be it trading a player or drafting one. His philosophy is simple: The longer you wait, the more information and insight you can gather, the clearer your choice becomes.

Besides, the notion of the Sixers' drafting based on need this year is ludicrous. For one thing, they won 18 games this season. They have too many needs to count. For another, Hinkie is fundamentally opposed to the concept, and it's hard to argue with him. Ask yourself: If you were the Portland Trail Blazers' GM in 1984, would you draft Sam Bowie with the No. 2 overall pick, knowing that your team lacks a decent center and that you already have Clyde Drexler at shooting guard? Or would you take the best available player and figure out a way to make it work once you have Michael Jordan on your roster?

Hinkie's approach means that the Sixers wouldn't rule out drafting Okafor or Towns, but it also means that they might just end up judging Russell to be the best player in the draft, regardless of position or need or the consensus among talent evaluators and mock-draft aficionados.

It's not far-fetched. Okafor, at Duke, and Towns, at Kentucky, were great players on great teams. But Ohio State went 24-11 this season, losing to Arizona in the NCAA tournament's round of 32, and without Russell's production, without the presence of a 6-foot-5 point guard with a shooting stroke as smooth as 20-year-old Chivas Regal, where would the Buckeyes have been?

"He's really, really talented, and he's big," Chambers said. "Whatever the roster says, he's every bit of that. And he rebounds. He's not out there hanging on the perimeter. He's digging it out. He's at an elite level. I think he has a chance to be an all-star someday.

"Take him off Ohio State, and I don't think they're an NCAA tournament team. I don't want to say 'not even close,' but I don't think they're an NCAA tournament team. He's pretty amazing."

Put him on the Sixers, and what then? Sam Hinkie has barely begun to answer the question yet.

msielski@phillynews.com

@MikeSielski