Sixers need lotto luck

TELL ME if this sounds familiar - the Sixers are waiting on the results of the NBA draft lottery, which will be a seminal moment in their rebuilding process.

That was the stance going into the lotteries in 2014 and 2015.

Losing big to get the highest pick possible trumped any other element of team-building for the Sixers over the past three seasons.

Unfortunately, the wash, rinse, repeat cycle of pingpong ball collecting didn't clean the dirty laundry nearly enough the first two times around.

After winning 19 games to finish with the second-worst record in the league, the Sixers were hoping to jump the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2014 lottery and claim the rights to Kansas freshman swingman Andrew Wiggins, who at the time was being unfairly compared to LeBron James.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, however, with a 1.7 percent chance won the lottery, pushing the Bucks and Sixers back one spot.

Amazingly, it still looked as if Wiggins would be there for the Sixers at No. 3 because Cleveland was zeroing in on Kansas center Joel Embiid and the Bucks had publicly announced they were committed to taking Duke forward Jabari Parker.

Then it blew up for the Sixers.

While working out for Cleveland, Embiid was discovered to have a broken navicular bone in his right foot that required surgery and the loss of his rookie season.

Cleveland took Wiggins, whom it then shipped to Minnesota for Kevin Love two weeks after adding James via free agency.

Milwaukee selected Parker and the Sixers took Embiid, the third party in a three-player draft, gambling that he would fully recover.

Two seasons later, Embiid has yet to play his first NBA minute.

Going into the 2015 lottery, the Sixers had the third-worst record despite winning only 18 games.

That didn't seem to be a problem, because they had targeted Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell – who was viewed as the third-rated prospect behind centers Karl-Anthony Towns out of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor from Duke.

Via trades, the Sixers also would get two more lottery picks had the Los Angeles Lakers slipped out of the top five and the Miami Heat out of the top 10.

The best-case scenario going into the lottery was the Sixers coming away with the No. 1, No. 6 and No. 11 picks.

They got virtually the worst result.

The Sixers ended up with only the No. 3 pick.

To add insult to injury, the Lakers, who had the fourth-worst record, jumped to second overall and surprised everyone by picking Russell after Minnesota drafted Towns.

The Sixers took Okafor, who had a strong rookie season, but it also meant that, after drafting Embiid and having traded for Nerlens Noel (sixth overall in 2013), they had acquired a center in three consecutive lotteries.

The results of three seasons of trying to game the lottery was a dismal 47-199 record, two big men who can't seem to coexist on the court, another big man who hasn't had a full practice and the resignation of the former presidentof basketball operations/general manager Sam Hinkie - the man who schemed the entire plan.

Now on Tuesday in New York City, the Sixers will wait on another lottery result that will have a large role in determining what moves they make in advancing their rebuild agenda.

New president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo needs a dramatic change in luck, fortune, karma, or whatever you want to call it, than what Hinkie had in the lottery.

This time, the Sixers - because of their putrid effort during the regular season (10-72) - finally achieved the worst record and thereby earned the greatest chance (25 percent) of getting the No. 1 pick.

The Sixers' odds are actually a bit higher because they have the right to change draft spots with the Sacramento Kings.

If the Kings, with their .019 probability, win the lottery, the Sixers will swap into the No. 1 spot.

The Sixers also have a chance to add a second top-five pick if the Lakers, who had the second-worst record, lose their top-three protection and are pushed back to fourth or fifth spot.

The ideal lottery result would have the Sixers winning and then picking up the Lakers' pick at No. 4.

An only slightly worse outcome would be Sacramento getting the first pick and the Lakers slipping to fifth - their worst possible position.

Considering that Louisiana State freshman forward Ben Simmons and Duke freshman forward Brandon Ingram are viewed as the only transformative prospects in this draft, the Sixers will be OK as long as they remain in the top two either through their own pick or via Sacramento's.

Of course, lotteries are governed by chance, meaning there is the possibility of an ELE (extinction level event).

If the Lakers remain in the top three while two teams - neither being Sacramento - jump the Sixers, they will receive the fourth overall pick for finally achieving the worst record.

That would be their lowest pick since the Sixers started the "Process." here.

@SmallTerp