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Report: 'Knicks Likely To Trade No. 4 Pick,' Possibly To Sixers

By Andrew Porter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- You just never know what Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie will do on draft day.

According to former ESPN and AP NBA reporter Chris Sheridan, now of Sheridanhoops.com, if Duke big man Jahlil Okafor is selected in the top-three "somebody is going to take the No. 4 pick from the Knicks."

How is this related to Hinkie and the Sixers? Sheridan's "educated guess" is that the two teams the Knicks will be talking closely with are the Sixers and the Celtics.

The Sixers own pick No. 3 and five second-round picks in this year's draft. Next year, the Sixers will likely have four first-round picks (three protected) plus nine second-round picks from other teams from 2016-2020.

The Celtics have two firsts and two seconds in this year's draft, plus a plethora of first-round protected picks from other teams in the coming years.

The Knicks are without a 2016 first-round pick, and without a second-round pick in 2015, 2016, and 2018. They need picks and the Sixers and the Celtics have plenty of them.

"At this point, I would say it is more likely than not that [Knicks President Phil] Jackson trades the No. 4 pick before the draft," Sheridan writes.

While speculation is the Sixers will be deciding between guards D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay at No. 3, maybe Hinkie can snag pick No. 4 and draft both of them?

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