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76ers may augment draft picks with veterans via trades or free-agent signings

A shooting guard may be at the top of Bryan Colangelo’s wish list.

The 76ers seemed to have two plans going into the NBA draft lottery Tuesday.

While team president Bryan Colangelo would not confirm his intentions - he kept saying he "might" do this or that - he made it clear that Plan A was to go down a "measured, organic growth path" if the Sixers won two picks in the lottery.

On the other hand, Plan B was to add a quality veteran in free agency or a trade to help speed up the rebuilding process if they wound up with just one pick.

They ended up with one pick, third overall.

So expect Plan B to go into effect as soon as possible. Colangelo will look for players who can help immediately via free agency or trades.

"It might have put us in a position to rethink maybe one path, where we maybe might be more apt to go down the slower, more organic path," Colangelo said Tuesday night. "But we are going to have both opportunities available to us now. We are going to look at all those alternatives, all those options."

So whom could the Sixers add?

Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, Washington Wizards small forward Otto Porter, Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari, Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard J.J. Redick, and Detroit Pistons shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are solid free-agent options for the Sixers.

Caldwell-Pope and Porter are restricted free agents, so their current teams will have the right to match any deals other teams offer.

The Sixers might have to offer Porter a max deal to pry him away from the Wizards. Even that might not work, because the Wizards intend to keep the rising star.

On Wednesday, Colangelo, obviously not wanting to telegraph his plans, seemed to softened his stance on free agency and trades.

"We're going to look at all options," he said. "All means of improving this team. We'll look at both a quicker pace and a more measured pace. It just really depends on what unfolds in the process of the next few weeks."

It remains a fact that reserve Jahlil Okafor is no longer in the team's long-term plans. So the Sixers will need to fill his role. They also have the Los Angeles Lakers' 2018 first-round pick, the Sacramento Kings' 2019 first-rounder, and their own picks in those drafts.

The Sixers won't be able to sign all those players to lucrative deals once their rookie contracts expire. So look for Colangelo to try to trade a couple of those picks and Okafor.

Ball and the Lakers

LaVar Ball told Lakers Nation that his son, Lonzo Ball, probably will work out only for the Lakers.

"Just the Lakers, " LaVar Ball was quoted as saying. "There's nobody else that we need to work out for."

However, ESPN reported that the Balls won't make a decision until "closer to June."

Lonzo Ball is one of the top prospects in the NBA draft, set for June 22. The Southern California native and former UCLA standout guard has long expressed his desire to play for the Lakers. He left the Bruins after his freshman season.

The Boston Celtics were awarded the first overall pick in the draft lottery. The Lakers will pick second, ahead of the Sixers.

"One of the most important things to me is knowing the prospect, knowing who he is, how he acts, how he thinks, knowing the medical information," Colangelo said in response to a question about what general managers do when players refuse to work out for or meet with specific teams. "Picks have been made in the past without medical information. That's not something that I am excited about doing."

Summer league schedule

The Sixers will open against the Boston Celtics in the four-team Utah Jazz Summer League at the University of Utah's Jon M. Huntsman Center on July 3. The Jazz and San Antonio Spurs are the other NBA teams sending players to the league.

The round-robin event will feature doubleheaders July 3, 5, and 6. The Sixers will fly to Las Vegas on July 7 to compete in the NBA Summer League at UNLV. The NBA league will run July 7-17.

kpompey@phillynews.com

@PompeyOnSixers

www.philly.com/sixersblog