In 2017, the 76ers traded a protected future first-round pick and a second-round pick to the Magic for No. 25 pick Anzejs Pasecniks. Pasecniks was a 7-foot-2 center with speed and little else, but that was at least an interesting combination.
Yet, Pasecniks won’t pan out for Philadelphia.
The 76ers have stashed Pasecniks in Europe to develop the last couple years. But teams can’t hold rights to draft picks indefinitely without the player’s consent. Each year, Philadelphia must offer Pasecniks a required tender – a contract worth at least 80% of the rookie scale to retain his rights. Until Pasecniks signs or agrees in writing not to sign, he counts against the cap.
Cap space is at a premium this year for Philadelphia, which is signing Al Horford. And apparently Pasecniks pressed the issue.
Sam Amick of The Athletic:
Sixers have renounced rights to Anzejs Pasecniks, a source tells @TheAthletic. The 23-year-old center who played overseas last
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 2, 2019
season was 25th pick in the 2017 draft (pre-Sixers GM Elton Brand).
Source says Anzejs Pasecniks had expressed an interest in coming to the NBA this season, and that potential cost was prohibitive for Philly’s books. They decided it was best to give him a shot elsewhere.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 2, 2019
Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports:
Source adds to me on @sam_amick report about Anzejs Pasecniks having his draft rights renounced that Pasecniks would not agree not to sign for the 2019-20 season and have his cap hold removed. This essentially forced Philadelphia's hand and they chose to renounce him.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 2, 2019
The 76ers could have traded Pasecniks’ rights rather than just renouncing him. But this suggests no other team wanted to surrender an asset to give him a rookie-scale contract.
Plenty of late first-round picks contribute nil in the NBA. Most get a chance on a roster, though.
It’s still possible for Pasecniks to sign elsewhere now that he’s an unrestricted free agent, but he could join the list of most-recent first-round picks never to play in the league:
- 2015 No. 26 pick Nikola Milutinov (SAS)
- 2013 No. 28 pick Livio Jean-Charles (SAS)
- 2007 No. 30 pick Petteri Koponen (PHI)
- 2005 No. 11 pick Fran Vazquez (ORL)
- 1999 No. 15 pick Frederic Weis (NYK)
- 1991 No. 25 pick Shaun Vandiver (GSW)
2018 No. 14 pick Michael Porter Jr. (DEN) missed his entire first season due to injury, but he’s expected to play this year.
