NBA Draft 2013: 76ers Make Splash

Jun 27, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Nerlens Noel (Kentucky) poses with NBA commissioner David Stern after being selected as the number six overall pick to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2013 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

I think the most or at least one of the most shocking, and big, moves was the Philadelphia 76ers trading their star, Jrue Holiday, for Nerlens Noel, who was a shock in itself since he fell to 6th after many saw him as the number one pick.

As a Sixers fan, I can tell you the reaction for Sixers fans was split: We lost our budding star, who we watched grow and mature since Sixers drafted him in 2009, and we got a Center with a torn ACL. I was one of the folks that was rather crushed and brought up the (lack of) success with players like Chris Webber, Elton Brand, and Andrew Bynum. I wasn’t so big on giving up a young star for another big man with knee problems.

But, the Sixers did more than that last night. They blew their team up. Noel means that they will probably let Bynum walk (if he can. I mean he’s been injured all this time, I don’t know anymore) and they made a series of trades in the second round in which I can only guess they grabbed three more players along with their two first round players.

They had the 11th pick and with it they took a potential Jrue replacement in Michael Carter-Williams. They also have the Pelicans’ (formerly known as Hornets) pick for next year which means they have a real chance of having two lottery picks next year to go along their two hopeful young stars from this draft.

Late in the draft, new Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, was wheeling and dealing and completely stumped Philly’s best reporters. It was insane. After weeks of no news from the team they go and do this. But wait! There’s more. They even hired a coach during the draft. Brett Brown, who was an assistant under Popovich with the Spurs is reportedly the new coach.

The Sixers changed the theme of the franchise in just a few hours and a couple of moves. If you follow the Sixers, you know we’re all about mediocrity, so it looks like we won’t be mediocre anymore. We’ll be in the bottom for a long time but hopefully, as recently as the Thunder did and as successfully as the Spurs did it, the Sixers can build a championship core strictly by drafting the players.

Sixers are a clear winner in this year’s draft and with quite a bit of cap space to work with, free agency could be just as wild for this team. I can’t tell you enough how optimistic Sixers fans are for the future.

So what about you? Did your team make the right moves or didn’t make the wrong moves? What did you think of the Celtics-Nets trade? Did you enjoy Stern’s last NBA draft, as he’s expected to step down in February 2014? Hit the comments and keep it here at Sir Charles In Charge for what should be an interesting off-season for all of the teams.