They struck out trying to persuade guard Rodney Stuckey, of Eastern Washington, to come in, and were still considering a possible visit with Florida forward Joakim Noah in New York sometime before Thursday.
(A report in Arizona's East Valley Tribune had Afflalo working out in one of two sessions today with the Phoenix Suns, but Sixers president/general manager Billy King said he was expecting Afflalo to arrive in town last night. Noah, according to the same report, was scheduled to work out today in Phoenix with Florida teammate Corey Brewer, Georgetown's Jeff Green and North Carolina's Brandan Wright.)
King sounded as if he would not use one of his three first-round picks (Nos. 12, 21 and 30) on Stuckey without a face-to-face meeting. At the same time, he intimated that he might bend that philosophy if he found himself in a position to select Noah.
Thornton, who averaged 19.7 points as a fifth-year senior, was back auditioning after sitting out a full week with a sprained ankle. He said he was "about 75 percent" yesterday; he tweaked the ankle early in his workout, then felt his back stiffen up at the end. Still, he fully intended to complete his round of visits by meeting today with the Milwaukee Bucks, who hold No. 6.
King said the Sixers have been "trying aggressively to get up" in the first round, either from No. 12 or 21.
"We have some things that we have on the table," he said. "We know [how high] we can get."
Conventional wisdom suggests that the Sixers have focused on an attempt to put themselves in position to acquire Green, Chinese power forward Yi Jianlian or Washington center Spencer Hawes, but King has offered no confirmation of any specific targets.
Going in to the final season of his contract, King has steadfastly insisted this is not "a make or break" situation either for the team or himself.
