For Instant Success, Philadelphia 76ers Should Draft Ingram

The Philadelphia 76ers need some talent to help them be successful, and quickly. For quick success, Brandon Ingram is their best option.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been masters of the NBA Draft Lottery and the Draft in general the past three years. They have compiled a roster full of diamonds in the rough as well as players who are expected to be great in the NBA.

Now, though, the team is moving into a new chapter. I’m not referencing the hiring of Bryan Colangelo as team president — although it is important to their future — because the future of the team was bound to hit a new chapter during this year’s draft with or without now resigned Sam Hinkie.

This new chapter is one that looks to finally win. Over the last three seasons, they have gone 47-199, and had a worse record in each consecutive season, with this most recent one being the worst by far. They ended the season with just 10 wins. A fourth year of tanking, at this point, would be too much. At this point, it’s time to move forward. It’s time to piece together that roster that is ready to win games.

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With the draft coming up, and the Sixers having the best chances at the first overall pick, a lot of fans are getting excited with the potential player that the Sixers will bring in. Although there is no guarantee they have the top pick, or even a pick in the top two, the excitement and optimism is still there.

A lot of fans want the Sixers to draft Ben Simmons. Simmons is the safe pick. Simmons is the top rated player in this year’s draft, and appears to have the highest ceiling out of all players available in this year’s class.

That’s what the draft is about. You don’t draft players based on how good they are at the moment, you draft them based on potential. None of these guys are final products. But Brandon Ingram may be further ahead of Ben Simmons at the moment in several aspects of his game, and given the Sixers’ need to get themselves out of this tanking mode, Ingram may be the better option if the Sixers obtain the first overall pick.

Simmons vs. Ingram

Looking at the numbers, Simmons and Ingram are actually quite similar.

Ingram averaged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the arc. Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (but he only took 3 shots from the 3-point zone during his freshman season).

Both of these players put up respectable numbers. But one of these players, although he is an elite rebounder and certainly could develop more of a game later on, is quite limited. That player is Ben Simmons, who is likely to be the number one pick.

Simmons took a large majority of his shots throughout his freshman year in the key and within 5 feet of the hoop. He wasn’t a creative scorer by any means. Ingram, on the other hand, can score in plenty of ways. He averaged over 5 attempted 3-pointers per game, more than Simmons took in his entire freshman year.

I’ve seen Ingram score in just about every way imaginable. A long-ball, a put-back dunk, a post up, a mid-range shot. You’re probably bound to see all of these in any game that you watch that features Ingram. His teammates trusted him with the ball and trusted him taking just about any shot on the floor.

The fit with the Sixers

The fit with the Sixers is the most alarming part of drafting Simmons. If you take Simmons, you’re putting him into a system that already has a ton of players in the food chain for paint-based scoring. Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid, who were all top-10 draft picks before Simmons, all are still on the team and do their best work in the paint.

Add Simmons into that mess and you’ve got a truly clogged key that doesn’t really offer much room for expansion. What the Sixers truly need are some wing players, or at least players that can consistently do more than just focus on the key on offense.

Truly, I think Jahlil Okafor would be a more versatile player than Simmons next season, and that’s a bit of an issue.

Ingram, on the other hand, can come onto this team next season and fit into a starting lineup right away, no matter how the frontcourt is shaped. He can throw off defenses by how he can impact the game from all over the floor. Drafting for fit isn’t the usual goal of lottery teams, but the Sixers need to start drafting that way if they’re ever going to start winning.

Ingram provides winning sooner, Simmons is big picture

Brandon Ingram provides a way to win right away. The way he fits with this roster will allow the Sixers to pull their best out of everyone, and not have to work so many players into the frontcourt. He can be started alongside a you-pick-two combination of Embiid, Okafor, and Noel, and not take anything away from their games like Simmons would.

As far as ceilings go, Ben Simmons likely has a higher one. But given the fact that the Sixers are looking to win soon, their return may be more immediate if they take Ingram over Simmons. This is one of the very rare situations where drafting in the top three for fit is better than drafting for best available, in my opinion.

Brandon Ingram can be the spark plug of this Philadelphia 76ers team.

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If the Sixers were trying to set themselves up to win in several years, I’d say Simmons is the better option. But the losing period needs to be over with. Ingram allows them to pull themselves out of that.