The 76ers drafted Marreese Speights, a 6'10", 250-pound center from Florida, with their only pick in the draft last Thursday. Speights is only 20 years old, and is a bit of a mystery entering the draft as a sophomore who had little college experience, having playing time blocked by NBA lotto-picks Al Horford and Joakim Noah.

The pick is hard to project based on his experience. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas mentioned (in the 30 seconds of bare-essential coverage) that Speights had problems with proper conditioning, or learning to push his limits. Bilas also mentioned that he lacks a second gear, despite his ability to run the floor and use his athleticism. Speights was described as a player that didn’t dominate anyone in college, but never got dominated, either.

He averaged 14.5 ppg and 8.1 rpg as a sophomore last year, and has a developing offensive game that features decent low-post ability, and modest jump shot range. His long wingspan benefits him on both sides of the floor, and despite his size and weight, he is still an athlete.

Analysis: Lets face it, Speights is a project, and if Bilas is right about him and he doesn’t learn to condition himself, he will not fit in with the Sixers’ fast-paced, up-tempo offense. However, this does give the Sixers another legitimate power forward/center, who will team with Jason Smith to spell Sammy Dalembert and whoever Mo Cheeks starts at the four spot. The last thing the Sixers needed was a tweener position player.

You can’t really compare statistics across leagues because of differing levels of competition, but we thought it would be worth comparing last year’s pick, Jason Smith, to Speights, as they both play the same position, and will fight for playing time.

In 2006, Smith averaged 16.8 ppg, 10 rpg, and 1.6 bpg. Mind you, this is a 7'0", 240-pound junior at Colorado State, who never really had to play top-ranked teams. Speights, in his first year as a starter in 2007 averaged 14.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 1.4 bpg. Smith averaged more points, but shot about five percent lower than Speights from the field.

Speights could stand to use his body better in the post, but it is worth noting that he probably has a better overall game, and a higher ceiling than Smith. Last year, in Jason Smith, the fans saw a player that knew his game, would challenge every hopeful dunker, and could run up and down the court. Smith seems to have the work ethic.

Time will tell if Speights has enough to see the light of the hardwood, or become the new Shavlik Randolph of the bench.

Note: This is the first pick GM Ed Stefanski has made for the Sixers.

Image Credit: Flickr user bikeride