Sixers secure second pick in Draft

Secaucus, NJ – May 18, 2010 – Tonight, the 26th annual edition of the NBA Draft Lottery was held and the Philadelphia 76ers were awarded the second overall pick.  Entering the lottery, the Sixers were slated to draft sixth overall and only had a 6.03% chance of moving up to the #2 pick.  This marks the second straight year in which the team with the sixth-best chance to win the lottery has come away with the second pick (Memphis in 2009).

“We hope our fans are as excited by the outcome of tonight’s draft lottery as we are,” said Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski. “We are fortunate that the ping-pong balls bounced our way tonight, and to move up to the second overall pick in a draft that features several impact players will provide us even more options as we move through the off-season to improve our team.

“We truly thank our fans for their continued support and we look forward to a very exciting off-season in Philadelphia.”

The Sixers have held the second overall pick three other times in team history (1974, 1993 and 1997), but have not drafted higher than eighth in any of the past 12 years.

Kevin Durant (2007), LaMarcus Aldridge (2006) and Emeka Okafor (2004) are just a few of the players who have been chosen with the second overall pick in recent years.  Over the past 20 years, the second overall pick has produced several Hall of Fame candidates including Gary Payton (1990), Alonzo Mourning (1992) and Jason Kidd (1994).

The second overall pick has gone onto win Rookie of the Year honors 15 times, including twice over the past six seasons.

Six of Philly’s top nine scorers from last season (Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights, Samuel Dalembert and Jrue Holiday) were drafted by the Sixers and have played their entire careers with the franchise.

The 2010 NBA Draft will be held on Thursday, June 24 at The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, beginning at 7 p.m.