Ben Simmons has been an internationally recognized player since his freshman year in Australia. He has become an NBA talent who is stuck in the NCAA. Along with virtually every scout, coach and GM, Simmons himself has already deemed himself the first overall pick
Though the NCAA is loaded with talent, picking any player other than Simmons would be a Greg Oden sized blunder.
The LSU small forward has already been given comparisons to LeBron James and Magic Johnson. That’s because Simmons isn’t the type of player who dominates the ball and shoots until his numbers look pretty. Simmons is a true team-first type player, whose main criticism is that he’s “too unselfish.”
If that isn’t enough to have GM’s drooling, they just have to look at this kid and all questions will be answered. Unlike Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons is coming into the league with an NBA type body. At 6’10” 240 pounds, Simmons is listed as 2 inches taller than LeBron, while only giving up 10 pounds. At only 19, Simmons body isn’t fully developed. He will continue to put on muscle, which is a scary thought for the 29 teams that will have to play this kid.
The only question mark that comes with Ben Simmons is his consistency shooting the ball. Like LeBron and Jordan (who both struggled with shooting to start their careers), Simmons shooting has not developed in the way many have hoped. This is not to say he is a bad shooter, but he lacks consistency and has the habit of going cold when he sees a few in a row that don’t go in. This will improve with time as when he is drafted he will be able to dedicate additional time to his craft instead of useless obligations such as going to class.
Looking at everything, any team that can take this guy, should. Every year players come along that get compared to NBA greats, but this guy is different. Simmons is the most NBA ready guy we’ve seen in years, and even if he doesn’t live up to his lofty expectations, at worst he will still be a guy who can help any NBA team.
By: Michael Hersey
