The San Antonio Spurs are looking ahead to the NBA Draft with their 29th and 59th overall picks now that they’ve made their deep playoff run and can focus on the draft. There’s only about a month until the draft and that means some serious scouting must be done. That’s presumably why you all are here. This week’s prospect is Arizona’s Kobi Simmons. Here are some of his measurables:
- 6’5”, 175 pounds
- Wingspan of 6’6”, max vert of 38.5”
- 8.8 PPG, 2 APG, 1.6 RPG
- 39.7 FG%, 32.7 3P%
Simmons is likely to go in the second round of the NBA Draft if he goes at all. His decision to come out after his freshman year and sign with an agent so quickly was a puzzling one. He did not have a great year after being ranked as a five-star recruit by ESPN in the 2016 recruiting class. His shooting percentages just aren’t there as a potential two-guard and he didn’t score as much as you’d like to see from someone declaring so early for the draft.
Despite all of those faults, there are some good aspects to his game that could make him a steal in the second round. He has the size to play either guard spot and is a better scorer than his numbers might indicate. He was playing with a bunch of other talent that is likely to go earlier in this and next year’s draft so he wasn’t quite the scorer he is capable of becoming. He can score off the move and is a solid enough jump shooter off the dribble as well.
His playmaking abilities as a guard are alright, but do leave a bit to desired. That can be worked on in the D-League where he would likely become the starter for the Austin Spurs right away. What will earn him more playing time is his defensive prowess though as he posted a decent enough 103.6 defensive rating while usually defending the other team’s best guard.
What Simmons will have to work on to find himself into the San Antonio rotation will be his shot mechanics as they are a little off right now — but they should only need a slight tweak that won’t drastically change his motion — as well as staying under control on offense when he’s handling the ball and improving his rebounding. Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich likes his guards to get in on the defensive end and board the ball rather than run out and try to get easy transition buckets, which Simmons would actually excel at if given the opportunity.
Photo: Wildcat.Arizona.edu
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
