Sixers target at No. 3 has competition after NBA Draft Combine

The entire Philadelphia 76ers fanbase was sweating bullets on Monday night as the NBA Draft Lottery order was announced. It was a stressful broadcast, during which ESPN's Kevin Negandhi prematurely said that Philadelphia had lost its pick to OKC, only for fate to intervene. In the end, the Sixers wound up with the No. 3 overall selection — a golden opportunity to add a top prospect to a talented roster with competitive aspirations.

This was a great outcome. It rewards a tortured fanbase after a miserable season and gives the Sixers a brighter future. Hopefully a brighter present, too. Now comes the great debate which will consume the next month: Ace Bailey or VJ Edgecombe?

We know Cooper Flagg is going No. 1 to Dallas. The Spurs (or the Bucks?) taking Dylan Harper at No. 2 feels like a given. But Philadephia occupies a fork in the road at No. 3. There is a strong case for Ace Bailey, a preternaturally gifted shot-maker with tantalizing physical tools. There is an equally solid argument for Edgecombe, a nuclear athlete with a more well-rounded skill set.

Everyone has their preference — it's Edgecombe for me — but we probably shouldn't chalk this up to a two-horse race either. Other prospects are bound to rise and fall over the next month, starting with this week's NBA Combine. The name making waves right now is Texas Longhorns sharpshooter Tre Johnson.

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Tre Johnson enters the mix for No. 3 pick with strong NBA Combine showing (and obvious 76ers fit)

Is Johnson the absolute best prospect available to Philadelphia at No. 3? Again, mileage will vary. We all have different opinions. We need to be able to read the signs, however, and Johnson has a lot of momentum. His stellar performance at the Combine is no surprise.

Johnson is a plus athlete, listed 6-foot-6 in shoes with a 6-foot-10 wingspan. After Ace Bailey measured around 6-foot-9 in shoes, shorter than his billing at Rutgers, there has been plenty of hand-wringing about his true NBA outlook. He does not have the outlier height many suspected. He is also far less polished than Johnson — a less efficient scorer, with maddening tendencies that did not always translate to winning on a bad Rutgers team.

There are strong parallels between the two. Both Johnson and Bailey rely heavily on their jumper. Neither gets to the rim much. Neither was a high-volume passer. Neither was a particularly sound defender in college. But Johnson comes from a better team. He shot more than five percentage points better on 3s on two more attempts per game. Johnson put up a positive assist-to-turnover ratio; Bailey's dips severely into the red. Johnson led college basketball's toughest conference in scoring in an outmoded offense. He willed Texas to the NCAA Tournament. Bailey was putting up gaudy numbers on a sub-.500 team in the Big Ten.

Let's just say Johnson has a case to rank ahead of Bailey, especially for a Sixers team with immediate championship goals. He's more polished as a decision-maker. He's a more dynamic off-ball shooter, committed to running off screens and making himself available on relocations. Bailey was far more iso-centric at Rutgers, even if Johnson did plenty of solo expeditions as Texas' go-to scorer.

If Johnson continues to test well athletically — in the 91.9 percentile for point guards and the 76.1 percent for shooting guards at the Combine, per Nick Kalinowski's calculations — and shoot the lights out in workouts, as he's wont to do, the tides may shift in his favor. He could even tempt the Sixers to trade back, if Philadelphia believes he might be available in the fifth or sixth spot. Both Washington and Utah have strong motivation to trade up and swing for the fences.

Just bookmark Tre Johnson's name, Sixers fans. He merits your full attention.