With the 17th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select….Jrue Holiday of UCLA. Jrue Holiday was a projected lottery pick, however the Sixers were quite fortunate that he fell to them at pick 17. John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Inquirer indicates that, “In virtually every scenario, UCLA freshman point guard Jrue Holiday was not going to be there at the 17th pick – many had him going in the top 10. But for whatever reason, Holiday started to fall.” Holiday was the last player left in the green room at Madison Square Garden, and the 76ers could not have been more happy about that.
Holiday declared for the draft after only one season of college ball, something that is the norm these days in the Association. Holiday did not receive as much playing time as he expected last season, and as a result his stats were not too impressive. Jrue stands 6 foot 3, which is fairly large for a point guard, and rebounds the ball well for a guy running the point. Holiday averaged just under nine points per game, however many believe that he has great upside to become a prolific passer and scorer.
Many believed that with the 17th pick the Sixers would pick up North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson, however Holiday was just too good to pass up. Chad Ford of ESPN makes note that he really likes what the Sixers did with the position they were in. Ford says, “I really like what the 76ers did, taking an opportunity to nab a lottery talent who was falling because of injury concerns. Holiday is in a long line of players who slipped when team doctors got nervous, with Danny Granger as a prime example. The Sixers could have gone with a more proven guard like Ty Lawson or Eric Maynor, but Holiday has more upside and could turn into a terrific pick for them.”
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