With the NBA draft Thursday, you're going to start to hear some very interesting stories and rumors in the days leading up.

One that is making its rounds according to Brad Turner of the LA Times, is that Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell does not want to play for the Sixers if they take him with the third pick.

After that it gets interesting, because Philadelphia is picking third, and no one in the NBA knows what the 76ers are doing and have been doing in recent years under secretive General Manager Sam Hinkie.

 

After trading point guard Michael Carter-Williams, the 2014 rookie of the year, to Milwaukee this past season, it would appear that the 76ers need a point guard.

 

But the buzz around the NBA is that D'Angelo Russell, a 6-5 point guard from Ohio State whom many see as a lesser Stephen Curry-type, doesn't want to play for the unpredictable 76ers. Russell did work out for the 76ers last week.

 

So that's where European talent Kristaps Porzingis comes into the picture. Porzingis, a 7-foot power forward who has been compared to Nowitzki, is expected to go third to Philadelphia.

It's an interesting report considering Russell said his workout with the 76ers on Wednesday went "great" and per a team source Russell "killed it" at his workout.

"He was talking about how excited he was about Philly," the source said.

However, there were rumors flying around last weekend when Russell missed his workout with the Sixers because he was "real sick."

We'll find out Thursday night during the NBA Draft, 7pm on 97.3 ESPN  - watch out live NBA Draft Warm room on our YouTube channel.

(Listen to Sixers insider Derek Bodner discuss D'Angelo Russell, Dario Saric, Kristaps Porzingis and more)

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