After years of waiting, the Philadelphia 76ers finally have their generational talent that they hope can be the face of their franchise. Tonight, with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Sixers took LSU superstar freshman Ben Simmons.
Simmons comes into the league with a lot of hype surrounding him as he has been compared to LeBron James, since his days at Montverde High School. In his only season at LSU, Simmons showed why he is the number one overall pick, displaying many talents that a 6-foot-10 power forward should not be able to do.
This past season, Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 34.9 minutes per game. He also shot 56 percent from the field. While Simmons excelled in scoring, rebounding and passing, one negative about his game is his shooting.
In comparison to Duke’s Brandon Ingram, he shot 44.2 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range. Simmons will need to continue to develop his jump shot, but under the tutelage of head coach Brett Brown, he can make huge strides over his rookie season.
Finally, with Simmons joining the Sixers it now creates a logjam in the front court with Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. That current logjam has led to rumors of the Sixers moving either Noel or Okafor to get back into the top-8 of the NBA draft.
It will be interesting to see how the Sixers build around Simmons and if they trade either Noel or Okafor to get Providence’s Kris Dunn or another guard.
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