76ers are biggest winners of NBA Draft Lottery outside of Cooper Flagg's destination

The Philadelphia 76ers absolutely needed the ping-pong balls to break their way.

Thankfully for Sixers fans, they bounced the right way.

The risk entering Monday night's NBA Draft lottery was this: If Philadelphia wound up with a pick outside of the top-six, it'd transfer hands to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a long-ago Al Horford trade with pick protections.

The 76ers breathed a big sigh of relief when it was announced they got the No. 3 pick. Momentarily, it looked like they had fallen out of the top-six, but that's actually because they had achieved a top-four spot, which was announced later.

Philadelphia entered the night with the sixth-best lottery position and added some luck to proceedings.

This nightmare 2024-25 season at least has a payoff of this high-end pick to add a phenomenal young talent.

"Everything," former Warriors GM Bob Myers said on ESPN of what was at stake for the 76ers on Monday night.

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Philadelphia will still need Joel Embiid to be healthy more often than not. They know they've got Tyrese Maxey as a rising superstar. Paul George's future is in doubt, but at least he's around, too. Jared McCain should be healthy for his second season, at least.

It's not a given that the 76ers all of a sudden get better just with a strong rookie added to the mix. But it can't hurt.

If Philadelphia didn't get this pick, there would've been legitimate discussions about blowing things up with a big trade or two.

Now, the 76ers still have a strong future in their sights, and it includes an exciting NBA Draft pick.