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76ersPickAfter days of misleading rumors, the 76ers picked the player they were always expected to get in Thursday night’s NBA draft.

Evan Turner, a 6-foot-7 guard who played three seasons at Ohio State, is the newest Sixer. The team used the second overall pick in the draft to select him with the hope of filling an immediate need at shooting guard “We are thrilled that Evan Turner is going to be a Sixer,” Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski said of the soft-spoken Turner. “. . . To get a kid like this who has not only his background on the court, but off the court we are very fortunate.”

Turner will make a slotted rookie salary of $3.835 million this season.

“He is so mature as a basketball player,” Stefanaski said. “And the one thing that you can give the biggest compliment as a basketball player is he makes his teammates better. This kid is unselfish. He makes good decisions, trying to get people the basketball. He is a terrific mid-range shooter. His defense is good. He has to continue to work on it. But we also got a guy, who we feel is very mature and we feel can become a leader on this basketball team.”

The Sixers last had the No. 2 pick in 1997 and picked Keith Van Horn, then immediately traded his rights to New Jersey as part of a deal that brought Tim Thomas and Anthony Parker to Philadelphia.

But Thursday at New York’s Theatre at the Madison Square Garden, Turner became a Sixer moments after the Washington Wizards selected Kentucky freshman John Wall first overall.

While Wall is considered to have more upside, draft experts believed Turner was the most NBA-ready player of the draft.

The Sixers hope the 21-year-old Turner and 20-year-old point guard Jrue Holiday will become a dominant backcourt tandem for many seasons to come.

Turner’s impressive mid-range game, high basketball IQ, and craftiness are among the many reasons the Sixers paired him with Holiday, last year’s first-round pick.

Leading to the draft, the Sixers were rumored be considering Georgia Tech freshman power forward Derrick Favors or Syracuse junior swingman Wesley Johnson.

Unlike Favors and Johnson, Turner has the ability to play point guard, shooting guard and small forward.

The Ohio State junior swept the Wooden, Oscar Robertson, Associated Press, Naismith, and Sporting News awards for national player of the year in 2009-10. Turner averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.7 steals.

One of the highlights of this past season was a game-winning, 37-foot three-pointer as time expired in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal victory over Michigan.

There were always signs that Turner was headed to Philadelphia.

He refused to participate in predraft workouts for other NBA teams and jokingly told the Philadelphia-area media to “be nice to me in the future.”

Perhaps the most obvious hint occurred last week when a page on the Sixers’ website inadvertently appeared with the headline “Sixers Draft Evan Turner.”

With Turner’s selection now official, the Sixers are counting on him to substantially improve a program in transition.

Following last season’s dismal 27-55 finish, Eddie Jordan was fired as coach after one season and Doug Collins was hired as his replacement last month.

The Sixers also acquired 22-year old center Spencer Hawes and gritty veteran forward Andres Nocioni from the Sacramento Kings in a trade for underachieving center Samuel Dalembert.