SIXERS NEWS

The NBA draft was tonight and with 17th pick of the 1st round, their only pick in the draft, the Sixers selected UCLA point guard Jrue Holiday. Holiday was projected as a top 10 pick so I guess the fact that the Sixers got him can be considered a steal. The problem is that Holiday is a bit of a project. He has the potential to become a very good point guard in the NBA in a couple years and probably will be, but he's not ready to step in as the Sixer's point guard right now. Which means the Sixers either must be confident they can bring back Andre Miller for at least couple more years or they really don't plan on putting together a contender for a couple more years. Honestly, Thad Young and Mo Speights probably won't be good enough to elevate the Sixers into contention for a couple years anyway so perhaps getting Holiday was a smart pick. I just wish the Sixers were a little more committed to winning now instead of a couple years from now. Realistically though, with the Magic adding Vince Carter, and the Cavs adding Shaq, the Sixers probably weren't going to be able to get much farther this season or even next season, than they did last season. So ultimately, I guess I would say getting Holiday was a nice pick for the Sixers. In fact if the Sixers can bring back Miller then it would be the perfect learning situation for Holiday and maybe he could end up being a very good pick. Make no mistake is a very good player. At a big physical height of 6-3, with a wingspan of 6-7 he is a very good defender capable of wreaking havoc in the lane and he's also a good athlete and good ball handler. Also other than his one college season at UCLA, he has played point guard his entire life, so unlike Lou Williams he really is a pure point guard. The only problem with the Holiday is that he needs to work on his shooting. Once he gets that done though he could be a star. So who knows maybe the Sixers really are better after this draft.