With the Philadelphia 76ers slotted favorably in this year’s lottery, here’s how some of the top prospects in the 2017 NBA Draft class fit alongside Ben Simmons.
He may not have played a game in the 2017 NBA season, but Ben Simmons has already given the Philadelphia 76ers something invaluable heading into the offseason.
Flexibility.
Swarm and Sting
Compared to Magic Johnson and LeBron James, Simmons is seen by most as a once in a generation positionless wonder – a lofty standard to uphold, but a brilliant characteristic to help Philadelphia build their team.
Although we don’t know exactly where the 76ers first round pick(s) will land, the team will already be well into their scouting for some of the top prospects in this years’ draft class.
With B.S., one of two main building blocks Philadelphia have to work with, let’s do some of our own scouting, and investigate what may be going through the mind of some of Philly’s scouting staff.
I assessed 10 of the top prospects in this years’ Draft, grading how good a fit they will be alongside the Sixers’ Australian wonderkid.
Josh Jackson
In a vacuum, Josh Jackson is, in my opinion, the top prospect in the upcoming Draft.
The Kansas star possess almost everything you’re after in an elite level wing talent – athleticism, size, defence, quickness, hustle, and a ceiling high enough to warrant going first to almost whoever winds up with the golden ticket.
Amongst that list of upsides, there is certainly plenty that’d endear him to the 76ers.
Having two long, athletic, transcendent talents either on the wing or in the backcourt, depending on how they want to line up, is a big tick in the versatility box. Not many teams in the league would be able to guard both concurrently.
But the big black mark on Jackson’s resume is his jump shot. He plays well inside his lane from the field, averaging 51.3 percent from two-point land, but from three-point, he is only 37.8 percent.
Given the concerns over Ben Simmons’ jump shot, it’d be a pretty hefty risk to take two guys cut from a similar cloth, neither of whom are effective shooters. Especially in the modern NBA.
Jump shot analysts note that, similar to Simmons, JJs’ jumper is far from broken and would only require some tweaking.
Both Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard (both of whom Jackson has been compared to) improved theirs out of sight after going professional.
But for this sin, JJ takes a big hit in his grading. He may just be too similar to Simmons to justify selecting him in the 2017 NBA Draft.