You’re kidding yourself if you don’t think the debate over who should be selected first overall in June’s NBA draft is legitimate.
It may sound sacrilegious to suggest anyone other than Ben Simmons, who we’ve pencilled – scratch that, written in permanent marker – at the top of the draft board for over a year now should be considered No1, but that’s the case.
It’s a two-player race, with Duke’s Brandon Ingram the only threat to dethrone the Australian. But it’s a real threat, even if the top pick ends up being predictable.
To make the argument for Ingram over Simmons, it would be easy to point to LSU’s disastrous season and their absence from the NCAA Tournament as proof.
While it’s certainly odd and definitely not encouraging to see someone labelled as the top prospect fail to bring his school into a 68-team tournament, that situation had more to do with the programme as a collective rather than one player.
More concerning and really the biggest obstacle facing Simmons’ future in the NBA is his utter lack of shooting.
Simmons attempted all of three 3-pointers this season. Three. Even for someone standing 6-foot-10, you better be a banger or a real low-post presence on offence if you’re not going to be a threat from the perimeter.
That’s just the reality we live in now, with the modern NBA game placing more and more importance on 3-point shooting.
Ingram doesn’t have that problem. In fact, he has shooting in spades as he converted 41.5 per cent of his triples in his freshman campaign, despite standing only an inch shorter than Simmons at 6-foot-9 and boasting a ridiculous 7-foot-3 wingspan.
It’s a stretch to say, but if you squint hard enough when you watch Ingram play, he kind of looks like Kevin Durant. Even if he’s not (likely), his style is conducive for success at the next level and his scoring potential is sky high.
THIS JUST IN: LSU freshman Ben Simmons tells ESPN he will hire an agent & declare for NBA draft. (via @GoodmanESPN) pic.twitter.com/LckbLtDBoW
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 21, 2016
Simmons, meanwhile, has literally all the other tools to be a special player. There’s reason why he’s been compared to LeBron James and Magic Johnson, even if those comparisons are very ambitious. But the difference between him being good and great will be if he can figure out his shooting, which many young players develop.
If I was a GM and had the first pick, I would take Simmons. His potential is just too high.
That said, I don’t think it’s clear-cut or believe Simmons will be hands down the best player from this class when we look back.
No one knows and that’s why the NBA draft is such a crapshoot.
