Kristaps Porzingis, Emmanuel Mudiay dark horses for Sixers

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NEW YORK — Social media has made NBA draft day one of great speculation and anticipation. Which teams will move up to get their guy? Which players will fall to a pick they did not envision?

On Wednesday, the top three picks, in order, were presumed to be what many had been speculating for months: Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and D'Angelo Russell.

However, 24 hours later, Okafor, the consensus No. 2 pick for nearly the entire pre-draft process, is being rumored to possibly slip to the Sixers' No. 3 selection as the Lakers may take Russell instead. Okafor said Wednesday he has prepared for the worst, which in his mind, is still a top-five pick. And that's not bad.

Kristaps Porzingis could even quite possibly be No. 2 overall.

The 19-year-old from Latvia is a confident young man who believes his experiences playing in Europe have prepared him for this moment.

"Right away, I will help any team in any way that I can," Porzingis said. "I am a young guy. I need to bring energy to the team, running the floor, getting rebounds and getting blocks.

"Down the road, I have my goals I want to reach and that includes helping a team win. I want to have a long NBA career. It is about being focused and mentally ready for the challenge, but I belong in the NBA."

Porzingis knows he needs to put weight on his slender 6-foot-11 body, but he loves the game and says he is devoted to his craft.

"There is nothing I haven't seen," he said. "I am sure I will get dunked on by some guys. I have to get stronger, but that is it."

Porzingis added that he hopes one day to be as good an NBA shooter as Dirk Nowitzki, and as smart a player as Pau Gasol. He is a stretch four who can shoot the three.

Another scenario that could occur is Russell goes to the Lakers, and instead of going big, the Sixers take a guy Larry Brown says "is the best point guard in the draft."

"That is one of my favorite people living right now," Emmanuel Mudiay said of Brown, who recruited him out of high school to go to SMU.

Mudiay originally committed but then went to play overseas.

"I get advice from him — I mean he is a basketball junkie," Mudiay said. "He has seen more basketball than all of us combined.

"I am not bragging on myself, but he had seen enough players, that when he said that it made me want to work harder. It was a big statement, and everybody is running with that now."

Mudiay has no concerns about an injury that limited his play last season in China to 12 games, nor is he concerned about people not having a chance to see him play.

"I haven't changed," he said. "The only thing that changed was I was in a different country. I played in a competitive league. I think it was more competitive than college basketball because of the physicality."

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