NBA Draft 2014: Philadelphia 76ers ‘zero in’ on Dante Exum and Noah Vonleh

Because of their aggressive “tanking” strategy, the Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more highly discussed teams in advance of the 2014 NBA Draft. When the Sixers landed the third overall pick after the draft lottery, they looked to be in prime position to grab one of the “big three” of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid in this year’s draft, but with the high-profile injury to Embiid, Philly has been forced to change course. Now, Chad Ford of ESPN is reporting that the 76ers have “zeroed in” on Australian point guard Dante Exum and Indiana forward Noah Vonleh.

Ford had this to say about each player in his most recent mock draft:

"They are very high on Exum as a prospect. He obviously plays the same position as Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams. However, the Sixers feel the two can play together and they continue to explore Carter-Williams trades that would land them a third pick in the top 10.Vonleh would give them a big who could spread the floor and help Noel on the defensive end. He’s especially appealing as there aren’t great bigs available to them at the No. 10 pick. If the Sixers can’t get another pick in the Nos. 5-8 range, they could decide to go ahead and take Vonleh here."

With Embiid’s status very much in the air, it makes a great deal of sense for Philadelphia to target either Exum or Vonleh, but with the rumor mill constantly churning, this could be revealing. The partnership between Exum and incumbent point guard Michael Carter-Williams would be a highly scrutinized one, but at the same time, he is largely considered to be the best prospect available after the aforementioned Wiggins and Parker, and teams like Philadelphia would be well served by taking the best player available.