Grading the Philadelphia 76ers Selection of Ben Simmons

Josh Wilson

Mar 11, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) sits on the bench during the first half of game seven of the SEC tournament against the Tennessee Volunteers at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers have selected Ben Simmons with the top overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Was it the right pick?

The Philadelphia 76ers, after a long time of waiting, finally were able to use the top overall pick in the NBA Draft. 2016’s NBA Draft was the first time the Sixers held the top overall pick since 1996, when they selected Allen Iverson.

With their luxury of being able to choose anyone from the draft board, the Sixers selected Ben Simmons out of LSU. Simmons is expected to have the highest star potential out of anyone in the draft, and could be a great pick for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Overall, the selection appears to be a good one. Simmons seems to be the type of player to fit into almost any offensive system, and looks to be a solid boost to the Sixers offense. On top of that, Simmons proved during his time at LSU that he could rebound at an elite level and facilitate the ball to his teammates, which will be important.

Since Simmons is a ball-facilitating forward, he can function much like Giannis Antetokounmpo did in the latter half of the Milwaukee Bucks’ season this year. Giannis was a point-forward, bringing the ball up from time to time. The only difference with Simmons is we don’t have much in-game proof that he has any sort of jump shot, which could be troubling. On the other hand, Simmons did seem to show an emphasis on working on his jump shot in pre-draft workouts, and it looks like when he puts his mind to something, he can really improve on it.

We saw that happen from the end of his pre-draft workouts through the draft. He added an emphasis on bulking his frame up, and after the LSU season ended, he did add 20 pounds of muscle. So the work ethic is there.

Next: Simmons at No. 1 is Correct

Moving forward, we’re going to have to see how Simmons gels with other members of the team. Although there’s a possibility the Sixers could trade Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel this offseason, I hope they keep both of them for the year (or at least until the trade deadline) in order to experiment with each of them (as well as Joel Embiid) in conjunction with Simmons. My expectation is that he will work well with anyone.

Josh Wilson

Josh is currently the Managing Editor of FanSided.com. He has worked with FanSided in some capacity for a total of eight years, starting as a contributor for Swarm and Sting, Toro Times, and HoopsHabit in 2015. He served as a site expert for The Sixer Sense during 'The Process' years while starting his educational track at Temple University as a journalism student. He later transferred to the State University of New York at Cortland where he completed his B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in journalism. For FanSided, Josh worked as Operations Assistant before taking on a role as Editorial Director of the NBA Division, a role he held for three years. Along the way he also helped start and lead the FanSided fellowship program which created a path for several young journalists to start their careers in sports media. Nothing is more important to Josh than Yankee wins and his family.