So what’s the deal with the 76ers’ 2025 1st-round selection?

Usually, when NBA teams find themselves in the bottom half of the league, they have the draft lottery to look forward to.

Take the New Orleans Pelicans, who are currently projected to pick fourth. Their situation couldn’t be more straightforward. They had a miserable season, in large part due to myriad injuries, and as a direct result, they’ll likely get a fairly high first-round pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.

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Some teams, like the Atlanta Hawks, find themselves in the unpleasant situation of having relinquished control of their first-round pick, as they owe it to the San Antonio Spurs, unprotected.

Then there are the Philadelphia 76ers, who — sigh — just seem to always find a way to make things extra difficult for themselves.

[2025 NBA Draft Lottery: Date, No. 1 odds and what to know for the Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes]

The Sixers, who similarly to the Pelicans dealt with multiple injuries, find themselves projected to pick fifth overall in this year’s draft.

For their sake, they better hope that projection sticks, because if they drop down to seventh, that pick goes straight to the Oklahoma City Thunder — all due to a trade that was completed four and half years ago.

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Remember when the Sixers thought signing Al Horford would be a good idea?

That was in 2019, when Horford was already 33, and Philadelphia believed he could play the power forward position next to Joel Embiid. Things went … about as well as you’d expect, and after a 67-game career with the Sixers, Horford was dealt to the Thunder in what can only be described as a salary dump.

Here’s the kicker: For the Sixers, who signed Horford to a four-year deal worth $97 million, they had to give up assets to get off the contract.

One of those assets? Yeah, it’s this year’s pick, with top-six protection.

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This means Philadelphia will be at the…