Sixers eager to see Simmons play summer league

Then, they told him to relax.

Simmons is the third Australian-born player drafted number one, with Bogut the top pick in 2005 and Kyrie Irving in 2011. “I talk about us having a young, developing core”.

Ben Simmons is surrounded by the right people. “He is going to be able to switch out on pick-and-rolls if we choose to do that”. “He (Simmons) does that and we want to encourage that and it will be Draymond like”. “It should not be on Ben’s shoulders to carry all that weight”.

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Oladipo, forward Ersan Ilyasova and the rights to the No. 11 overall pick, forward Domantas Sabonis.

The 76ers were the worst team in the National Basketball Association last season with just 10 wins in 82 games – and did not fare much better the previous two years. And the Sixers have just spent 36 hours promising to supply some.

With the Celtics deciding to make a selection, they elected to draft forward Jaylen Brown which seemed to be a surprising pick to many considering guards like Kris Dunn and Jamal Murray were on the board. We’ve watched the Golden State Warriors use Draymond Green as a point forward.

The worldwide flavor carried on the rest of the first round with eight more foreign players selected among the 30 picks, not counting Domantas Sabonis, son of Lithuanian hoops great Arvydas Sabonis, who was born in the United States and taken 11th by Orlando. “I know where I’m going to be, find a place and settle down and get into the gym and just focus on getting better”.

“His talents are unique”, Colangelo said. The versatile and athletic 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward hails from Melbourne, Australia and played his high school basketball at Montverde Academy in Florida. He also has the ball skills and court vision of a guard. Some felt Brandon Ingram, who went No. 2 overall to the Lakers, was equally qualified for the distinction.

“I think you can see some Draymond usage in him in how he can rebound and lead a break”, Brown said of Simmons. I think it’ll take a lot of effort.

Brown did indicate a willingness to shift Simmons to point guard, perhaps at some point in his rookie season. But if the Sixers’ franchise-wide tolerance for years didn’t say it, their words Friday did: They are not going to rush anything.

Asked about what advice he would give his son regarding Brown, he said, “I think Coach Brown is a very passionate coach and loves the sport and is very detailed”. “But I am back at the bottom now”. “There were some teams approaching us about some of our players, about our 24th and 26th pick that arguably could have gotten us into the top 10, but the deals that were presented, the assets that were asked for, the players that were asked for, we decided it was not in our best interest to move forward with those deal”.