Teams line up to snare stars of the future in NBA draft

Jay Asser 10:49 23/06/2016
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  • Top picks: Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram.

    Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram are in a tier of their own in this year’s NBA draft.

    When the annual influx of college players commences on Thursday night (UAE: 04:00+1) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Simmons and Ingram are likely to be the first two names off the board.

    After finishing with the worst record in the league this season at 10-72, the Philadelphia 76ers hold the top selection as they search for a player capable of turning the floundering franchise around.

    Philadelphia have drafted third in each of the past two drafts, much of it due to their own volition as former general manager and president of basketball operations Sam Hinkie chose a bottom-out rebuilding approach to gather as many high draft picks as possible.

    Hinkie resigned in April, months after four-time Executive of the Year winner Jerry Colangelo was hired as the Sixers’ chairman of basketball operations in December.

    Following Hinkie’s departure, Colangelo’s son, Bryan, filled the vacant role. With new leadership at the helm, Philadelphia are eager to get out of the dregs of the league and have the luxury of choosing between the top prospects in the draft, though they’ve supposedly made a promise to Simmons they’ll select him, according to reports.

    Simmons was widely considered the runaway best talent in the class heading into his freshman year at Louisiana State University (LSU), but while the 19-year-old Australian put up stellar numbers, he failed to lead his team to the NCAA tournament as they struggled through a disappointing campaign.

    That, coupled with question marks over his shooting – he attempted just three 3-pointers – has opened the door for Duke product Ingram to potentially leapfrog him.

    The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to swipe the lanky 18-year-old at number two if the Sixers tab Simmons first overall.

    Los Angeles are entering a new era following the retirement of Kobe Bryant.

    With their desire to be consistent contenders, trading the second selection for a proven player is in play, as is swapping point guard D’Angelo Russell for a top-five pick, according to reports.

    Behind the Lakers sit their longtime rivals the Boston Celtics, who once again head into the draft stocked with ammo to make a move. That means general manager Danny Ainge will take a hard look at trading the pick for an established player able to help a team that was tied for the seventh-best record in the league this season.

    The Celtics have been linked with Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler, Utah Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward, Milwaukee Bucks sharpshooter Khris Middleton and Philadelphia big men Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.

    Boston’s offers to bring in a veteran have reportedly been rebuffed so far, but they also have the 16th, 23rd, 31st, 35th, 45th, 51st and 58th overall picks to work with, giving them the most selections of any team in the draft.

    After the top tier of Simmons and Ingram, the draft could unfold in a number of ways. The top guards of the class are Kris Dunn, Buddy Hield and Jamal Murray, and they’re all expected to be drafted somewhere between the third and 10th pick.

    Dunn is a point guard from Providence who could be the target of teams in search of a playmaker, either by drafting for him or trading up to nab him.

    Hield and Murray, meanwhile, have been compared and contrasted leading up to the draft as they’re both scoring-minded players with exceptional shooting ability.

    At Oklahoma, Hield earned the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Award for being the top college player this season, but was a four-year senior and is one of the oldest players in the draft at 22.

    Murray’s age of 19 is in his favour, especially after showing an impressive offensive skillset in his lone year at Kentucky.

    There’s also intrigue once again with a highly-touted international prospect as 18-year-old Croatian Dragan Bender is projected to be a top-10 pick.

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