Draft night can be a magical one for many teams around the NBA, but for others, it could be the beginning of something terrible. We’ve seen these cases since always, with teams like the Portland Trail Blazers passing up on Michael Jordan in 1984, or our favorite victim, the Sacramento King picking Marvin Bagley III instead of Luka Doncic in 2018.
Just like this, somebody believed the Philadelphia 76ers would regret their decision of selecting Joel Embiid with the 3rd overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, but time proved them wrong, very wrong.
Right after the Sixers selected the Cameroonian center for their team, former Pennsylvania governor and Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell sent a message to the Sixers faithful, praising Embiid but claiming that there was a better player for the team.
He said that Doug McDermott was a better option for the Sixers, even going to say they would regret passing up on him. Eight years after that moment, Embiid is a two-time MVP finalist, one of the best players in the league and the cornerstone of the Sixers franchise.
Freezing Cold Takes has been recalling some infamous claims about the NBA Draft, and this one wasn’t overlooked.
#NBADraft pic.twitter.com/zmSlvSUV5b
— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) June 23, 2022
As stated above, it’s pretty easy for a team to mess up on the draft night, as it’s happened plenty of times before. However, this wasn’t the case, as the Sixers found a gem in Embiid, even after he missed action during his first years in the association.
After playing for the Bulls, Thunder, Knicks, Mavericks, and Pacers, McDermott is now part of the San Antonio Spurs. His career hasn’t been even half as good as Embiid’s, so it’s pretty safe to say that Mr. Rendell was very very wrong. Good thing he wasn’t part of the Sixers’ front office at that time.
