With the 2022 NBA draft about a week and a half away, now is the time to look back at the recent draft history of the Philadelphia 76ers.
This edition focuses on the 2009 NBA draft after the Sixers fell to the Orlando Magic in Round 1 of the playoffs. Philadelphia held the 17th pick in the draft and they decided to select a defensive stud out of UCLA with the pick.
Jrue Holiday became a starter almost instantly in Philadelphia as he started 51 of the 71 games he played as a rookie averaging 8.0 points and 3.8 assists. He helped the Sixers make the playoffs in 2011 and he was a big part of the upset over the Chicago Bulls in the 2012 playoffs and coming to within a win of the Eastern Conference finals.
In his final Sixers season, he averaged 17.7 points, 8.0 assists, and 4.2 rebounds while being named an All-Star. The 2012-13 season was a disappointing one for the Sixers with the Andrew Bynum fiasco, but Holiday was a real bright spot.
The Sixers then began The Process in the 2013 offseason when they traded Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans for the 6th pick and they selected Nerlens Noel at No. 6 and later drafted Michael Carter-Williams.
Holiday would go on to become a defensive stud with the Pelicans as he made an All-Defensive Team twice in his seven seasons in New Orleans before he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2020 offseason. In his first season with the Bucks, he won a title in 2021 averaging 17.3 points and 8.7 assists during the playoff run.
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