Another first for Sixers

BARRING A TRADE (that would send this town into an absolute frenzy), presumptive pick Ben Simmons will become the third player the Sixers ever select No. 1 overall.

Doug Collins was the prize in 1973 after the Sixers posted that horrific 9-73 mark. He went on to be selected to four All-Star games, but battled injuries throughout his career.

Allen Iverson, in 1996, was the other. He went on to score nearly 20,000 points for the Sixers and have his number retired.

Here are some other facts, figures and fun about the history of the No. 1 overall pick:

The No. 1 overall pick has yielded 17 Hall of Famers, two who surely will be inducted some day and one maybe. Here's the list:

Player, Drafted

Elgin Baylor, 1958

Oscar Robertson, 1960

Walt Bellamy, 1961

Elvin Hayes, 1968

Lew Alcindor, 1969

Bob Lanier, 1970

Bill Walton, 1974

David Thompson, 1975

Magic Johnson, 1979

James Worthy, 1982

Ralph Sampson, 1983

Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984

Patrick Ewing, 1985

David Robinson, 1987

Shaquille O'Neal, 1992

Allen Iverson, 1996

Yao Ming, 2002

Future HOFs

Tim Duncan, 1997

LeBron James, 2003

Possible HOF

Dwight Howard, 2004

Solid starts

John Wall, 2010

Kyrie Irving, 2011

Anthony Davis, 2012

Note: Thompson, Sampson and Yao are Hall of Famers more for their exploits in college or abroad.

From 1949-65, teams were allowed to make territorial picks in order to acquire players who would be more appealing to local fans and help drive attendance. Teams would forfeit their first-round pick in order to select a player who attended school within 50 miles.

The Philadelphia Warriors were allowed to exploit this rule and take Wilt Chamberlain, who played high school ball in Philadelphia (Overbrook) but attended the University of Kansas.

Here are Hall of Famers who entered the league as territorial picks. Some of these players surely would have gone No. 1 overall:

Player, Team, Drafted

Ed Macauley, St. Louis, 1949

Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis, 1949

Paul Arizin, Philadelphia, 1950

Tom Gola, Philadelphia, 1955

Tom Heinsohn, Boston, 1956

Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia, 1959

Dave DeBusschere, Detroit, 1962

Jerry Lucas, Cincinnati, 1962

Bill Bradley, New York, 1965

Gail Goodrich, L.A. Lakers, 1965

When the No. 2 pick turned out to be the much better player than the No. 1.

2013: 1. Anthony Bennett, 2. Victor Oladipo

2007: 1. Greg Oden, 2. Kevin Durant

2006: 1. Andrea Bargnani, 2. LaMarcus Aldridge

1981: 1. Mark Aguirre, 2. Isiah Thomas

1972: 1. LaRue Martin, 2. Bob McAdoo

1965: 1. Fred Hetzel, 2. Rick Barry

1956: 1. Si Green, 2. Bill Russell

1954: 1. Frank Selvy, 2. Bob Pettit

The Pittsburgh Ironmen, of the BAA - the forerunner to the NBA - used the first-ever draft pick in 1947 on Clifton McNeely, a first-team All-America at Texas Wesleyan.

McNeely, whose college career was interrupted to serve in the Air Corps in World War II, declined to play professional basketball, which turned out to be a wise move.

Instead, he became a renowned high school coach, and won four state titles in the 1950s at Pampa (Texas) High, where they named the gym after him. McNeely died in 2003.

Pittsburgh wound up being unable to field a team in 1947 and folded.

The ultimate tank.

Thursday, June 23

Brooklyn, N.Y. (7 p.m./ESPN)

FIRST ROUND

(5 minutes for pick)

1. Sixers

2. Los Angeles Lakers

3. Boston

4. Phoenix

5. Minnesota

6. New Orleans

7. Denver

8. Sacramento

9. Toronto

10. Milwaukee

11. Orlando

12. Utah

13. Phoenix

14. Chicago

15. Denver

16. Boston

17. Memphis

18. Detroit

19. Denver

20. Indiana

21. Atlanta

22. Charlotte

23. Boston

24. Sixers

25. Los Angeles Clippers

26. Sixers

27. Toronto

28. Phoenix

29. San Antonio

30. Golden State

SECOND ROUND

(2 minutes for pick)

31. Boston

32. Los Angeles Lakers

33. Los Angeles Clippers

34. Phoenix

35. Boston

36. Milwaukee

37. Houston

38. Milwaukee

39. New Orleans

40. New Orleans

41. Orlando

42. Utah

43. Houston

44. Atlanta

45. Boston

46. Dallas

47. Orlando

48. Chicago

49. Detroit

50. Indiana

51. Boston

52. Utah

53. Denver

54. Atlanta

55. Brooklyn

56. Denver

57. Memphis

58. Boston

59. Sacramento

60. Utah

Year: Player, Team, 2015-16 ppg

2015: Karl-Anthony Towns, Min., 18.3

2014: Andrew Wiggins, Cle., 20.7

2013: Anthony Bennett, Cle., 1.5

2012: Anthony Davis, NO, 24.3

2011: Kyrie Irving, Cle., 19.6

2010: John Wall, Was., 19.9

2009: Blake Griffin, LAC, 21.4

2008: Derrick Rose, Chi., 16.4

2007: Greg Oden, Por., DNP

2006: Andrea Bargnani, Tor., 6.6

2008: Serge Ibaka, Sea., 11.6

2006: Kyle Lowry, Tor., 13.5

1999: Andrei Kirilenko, Utah, 11.8

1996: Derek Fisher, LAL, 8.3

1993: Sam Cassell, Hou., 15.7

1992: Latrell Sprewell, GS, 18.3

1985: Terry Porter, Por., 12.2

Year: Player, Team, Career ppg.

2008: George Hill, S.A., 11.3

2004: Kevin Martin, Sac., 17.4

2002: John Salmons, S.A., 9.3

2001: Samuel Dalembert, Sixers, 7.7

1989: Vlade Divac, LAL, 11.8

Year: Player, Selected, 2015-16 ppg

2015: Jahlil Okafor (No. 3), 17.5

2014: Joel Embiid (3), DNP

and  Elfrid Payton (10), *10.7

2013: M. Carter-Williams (11), *11.5

2012: Maurice Harkless (15), *6.4

2011: Nikola Vucevic (16), *18.2

*Did not play for Sixers in 2015-16

When LSU played at Texas A&M in January, A&M fans derisively chanted "Sixers, Sixers," toward Ben Simmons, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. The Sixers were 5-38 when LSU visited the Aggies.

Looking at the best and worst of the No. 1 overall picks since 1966, the first year the NBA ended the practice of territorial picks:

The best 5
Magic Johnson, 1979
Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), 1969
LeBron James, 2003
Tim Duncan, 1997
Shaquille O'Neal, 1992

The next 5
Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984
David Robinson, 1997
Elvin Hayes, 1968
Patrick Ewing, 1985
Allen Iverson, 1996

The worst 5
Anthony Bennett, 2013
LaRue Martin, 1972
Kwame Brown, 2001
Greg Oden, 2007
Michael Olowokandi, 1998

The best 5 (active)
LeBron James, 2003
Tim Duncan, 1997
Dwight Howard, 2004
Anthony Davis, 2012
Kyrie Irving, 2011

The best 5 (not picked No. 1)
Michael Jordan (3rd), 1984
Kobe Bryant (13th), 1996
Larry Bird (6th), 1978
Steph Curry (7th), 2009
Charles Barkley (5th), 1984

@EdBarkowitz