Daryl Morey discusses if draft can help Sixers right now, Ricky Council IV
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are now looking ahead to the offseason following a Round 1 elimination at the hands of the New York Knicks. They will be armed with a ton of cap space and other assets to improve the roster and make another run in the 2024-25 season.
At the moment, the Sixers have the 16th pick in the 2024 NBA draft and one has to wonder what President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey will do with that selection. When considering the timeline the Sixers are on at the moment, one has to assume that he will likely shop the selection.
“Immediate help probably never comes in the draft,” said Morey. “There’s really only something less than 10 but greater than five players picked in the range we’re picking in that are good in the first year. That said, we don’t really focus on the draft for help now. I do really love 16. The storylines have been that the draft is worse. I don’t see that at all. Actually, I’m very excited about who’s at 16. That said, as you might expect we have all options on the table: Trade into the future so that we can keep more picks available for future trades.”
Morey isn’t wrong. One will be hard-pressed to go back in the history of the NBA and find a 16th overall pick who was able to come in and produce right away. The Sixers are at a stage right now where winning has to take precedence over everything.
“If we do pick, I’m excited about who’s there,” said Morey. “We could trade back, pick up a player. I do like having a good core of young players. I feel like we’re developing that with Paul (Reed) and Ricky Council. Hopefully, either the 16th pick or whatever pick we end up in the draft–I do think you want to have a few young players who are pushing your vets.”
While it is nice to have a young player–and there are some solid potential options at 16–the Sixers have to focus on win-now players.
“We’re mostly going to be a veteran-laden team after an offseason where there’s going to be a lot of change,” continued Morey. “Except for Nick Nurse, Joel (Embiid), Tyrese (Maxey, and Paul and Ricky, we don’t know for sure who’s going to be back next year.”
Speaking of Ricky Council IV, the Sixers picked him up as an undrafted players and they were impressed with what he brought as a rookie so they converted his two-way deal into a standard NBA contract. With that being said, Morey still knows he has a ways to go.
“With Ricky, the way these normally goes—and we spoke to Ricky about this in his exit meeting—is you’re first year, you almost have no chance,” Morey explained. “Especially, if you’re undrafted. You have to prove yourself in the G League which he did. The second year, you really have to take focus a lot on what you need to improve, and if you do that, you then need to give a coach the reason to play you because you’re probably not going to play a whole lot even in your second year.”
With that being said, Council IV took advantage of his opportunities and even changed games for the Sixers at times. The biggest example being in an April 7 win over the San Antonio Spurs when he didn’t play for three quarters, but played the entire fourth and the two overtimes to help Philadelphia get the job done.
“I think with Ricky, it could be defense so I think as long as his defense is at a high level, that when we take an injury or something next year, and Nick is facing a really tough wing that we’re struggling to guard, he might go ‘You know what, I’m going to give Ricky a shot’ or it’s multiple injuries like we had this year where he’ll get a chance to play,” finished Morey. “Then, I think sometimes you grab that job and you never let go. So that’s how it can happen in year 2. Normally, it’s a little more into year 3, though, usually. Just given where he was drafted and whatnot.”
