This past Monday, the 2025 NBA draft lottery was in Chicago. With a 1.8% chance to win, Dallas will have the #1 pick in June. General Manager Nico Harrison said the team plans to draft Duke’s Cooper Flagg.
San Antonio finished second, and they’re expected to select Rutgers’ Dylan Harper. The third overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers. Mock drafts have the Sixers selecting Rutgers’ Ace Bailey with the third pick. However, NBA insider Sam Vecenie has reported that Philly is “expected” to listen to trade offers for the third overall pick.
Should the 76ers trade the third overall pick for win-now talent?
The Sixers are reportedly open to trade offers for the No. 3 overall pick, per @Sam_Vecenie pic.twitter.com/bCsSOCxX3v
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 16, 2025
In the 2025 NBA draft lottery, the 76ers had one goal. Have the sixth pick or lower. If Philadelphia had the seventh pick or higher, its draft rights would have gone to the Oklahoma City Thunder. ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi was the host of the draft lottery on Monday night. He slipped and said the 76ers had fallen out of the top six and lost their pick to OKC.
However, the Sixers did retain their draft rights in 2025 and have the third overall selection. NBA insider Sam Vecenie said that Philly is “expected” to listen to trade offers for the third pick. He explained how Ace Bailey is a fine prospect at #3, but scouts view him as a project. With the players on the Sixers’ current roster, the team needs win-now talent.
Last season, the 76ers were ravaged by injuries to top players on their roster. Joel Embiid played 19 games for the Sixers in 2024-25. Is the team willing to part ways with top draft capital to fill the roster with veteran win-now talent? If the Sixers chose to keep the third overall pick, they could select VJ Edgecombe over Ace Bailey. Edgecombe is viewed as the more NBA-ready prospect at the moment. That could sway the 76ers to draft him over Ace Bailey. We’ll wait until the draft in June to see where these players land.
