NBA Draft: Selecting Ben Simmons First is the Correct Pick

By Kevin Kolodziej | Jun 23, 2016

Jan 16, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the second half of a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. LSU defeated Arkansas 76-74. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

There’s no better player in this year’s NBA Draft than Ben Simmons, and he’s an ideal top-selection for the Philadelphia 76ers.

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers informed Ben Simmons that he would be the first pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. On Thursday night, it became official. There’s just one problem with this decision.

I’m just kidding, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. For so many reasons, Simmons is hands-down the correct selection for the Sixers at No. 1 overall.

For starters, he is undoubtedly the most talented player in the 2016 draft class. Simmons is a freak-athlete with true superstar-potential that can defend anywhere on the floor. His explosiveness, ball-handling skills and high-basketball IQ are all rarities for a player his age (he’s still just 19 years old) and he’ll only improve moving forward.

Simmons was the highest-rated prospect in this year’s draft-class before last year’s draft even began, and even though Brandon Ingram succeeded in making a name for himself over the course of his freshman year at Duke, he was never truly a threat to surpass Simmons as the top-pick on Thursday night.

Sure, Ingram has a better jump-shot than Simmons, but that’s really the only area that he has the upper-hand. And yeah, Ingram probably would have fit better with last year’s 76ers roster, but at the start of the 2016-17 season, the Sixers will most likely be unrecognizable compared to last year’s squad.

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Bryan Colangelo has been on the record as stating that, as much as he respected Sixers’ former general manager Sam Hinkie’s rebuilding plan, he feels it’s time for this team to start winning games right now. In order for Colangelo to succeed at this goal, there’s going to need to be quite a shake-up with Philadelphia’s roster construction.

Expect players like Robert Covington, Jerami Grant (both of which are on two of the best contracts in the NBA) T.J. McConnell, Richaun Holmes and one of either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor (one will most likely be moved before the start of the season) to stick around next year. The expected additions of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric will be welcomed with open arms by the organization and fans alike.

The rest of the roster is still up in the air, but combining the aforementioned names with a few free agents (the Sixers have more cap-space than 29 teams in the league heading into free agency) and Simmons significantly increases the team’s chancing of winning both now and in the long-run.

While at LSU, Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks while shooting 56 percent from the floor in just under 35 minutes her game. As impressive as these stats are at the college level, they still don’t tell the whole story.

As a team, LSU shot a horrible 33 percent from 3-point range during Simmons’ lone-year in Baton Rouge. One of Simmons’ best facets is his ability to drive through the lane, draw a double team and kick the ball out to an open shooter on the wing. Imagine how many more assists he could’ve had if he played with even an average 3-point shooting team.

Now, imagine what’s going to happen when he’s passing to professional NBA players — his efficiency should rise tremendously.

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Players with the size (he’s 6-10) and skill-set of Simmons rarely come around, and while many other draftees are certainly enticing, there’s only one player in this year’s draft class that a team can truly build its franchise around.

His name is Ben Simmons.