76ers take Ben Simmons with No. 1 pick in NBA draft

The 2016 National Basketball Association draft is underway and with longtime consensus #1 pick Ben Simmons going to the Philadelphia 76ers. They managed to nab 7-foot-1 Croatian forward Dragan Bender with the fourth pick, followed by a trade with the Sacramento Kings that landed them the versatile 6-10 forward from Washington, Marquese Chriss.

If you have the top choice in an entire NBA Draft and there isn’t one franchise-making pick in it, you have two choices: 1.

It was the Lakers’ first pick in the post-Kobe Bryant era.

Ben Simmons was signing 76ers jerseys and eating cheesesteaks before he was even drafted.

While both are freshmen, Ingram is 18 years and nine months while Simmons turns 20 in July. He became the second freshman to earn that award. The only thing lacking in his game at the moment is a consistent jump shot, but it is something the Sixers feel can be developed, and Brown has a great relationship already with Simmons that the team is confident he is the coach who can develop it.

Rich Paul, the agent for Simmons, was in attendance, and while he expressed optimism that Simmons would play in the summer, he couldn’t give a definitive answer. He has the size, versatility, and speed. He’s an excellent floor general, and if there’s a silver-lining, it’s that Ulis can play alongside fellow Wildcat Devin Booker, who flourished last season as a rookie.

Ben Simmons was named the first team All Southeastern Conference and the league’s Freshman of the Year. He led the LSU Tigers in all major statistical categories, except three-point and free throw shooting. Simmons finished the season with 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, two steals, and 0.8 blocks in 34.9 minutes per game.

Many people believe that Ben Simmons is a point guard in a power forward’s body. He has excellent ball handling skills and court vision.

“He’s surreal”, Simmons said. “…I would expect it to be nothing more than a formality, but to be cautious, we will call it at this time probable”.

They won 10 games last season, while the Detroit Pistons, who nabbed the east’s final play-off berth, finished with 44 wins.

“I actually had a poster of AI when I was young in my room”, the 19-year-old Simmons said.

“We’ve known about this pick for a while”, Brown said.

Simmons also had academic issues that made him ineligible for the Wooden Award, which is presented to the nation’s top college player. The Philadelphia 76ers now have Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor. There have been talks that Dario Saric will be joining them this summer.

His closest mentor, however, has always been his father David, a professional player who was born in the South Bronx but ended up in the unlikely basketball outpost of Melbourne.

The Indiana Pacers traded guard George Hill to the Utah Jazz in a three-way trade with the Atlanta Hawks.