With the 76ers officially being on the clock for the upcoming NBA Draft, there is mainly a consensus as to who the top two players in the draft will be. And these are LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram. While both are great players, they are distinctly different players. In order to help you better understand these players you will be hearing a lot about soon, I will get into the strengths and weaknesses about each player and more.
Ben Simmons – 6’10 240 lbs SF/PF
(source: tampabay.com)
Strengths
This kid is an absolute athletic freak in every sense of the word. He is such a unique talent as he has the size and power of a PF, with the vision and passing skills of a PG. The guy is capable of playing of all five positions and is getting direct comparisons to Lebron James. He is elite on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball and can rebound with the best of them. He is also very confident and is capable of being a leader right from the get go.
Weaknesses
His most notable weakness at this point is that, despite the fact he is a great scorer, his jump shot is not that polished or reliable. Also, the comparisons to Lebron need to calm down a bit. While he is probably the best athlete in the draft, he is still a level or two below where Lebron was coming into the league. Also, some problems about his work ethic and drive arose during this season where he basically made a mockery of the mandatory one year of college as he didn’t attend classes often and seemed to sort of “buy into” all of the hype he was getting, which can be dangerous.
Brandon Ingram – 6’9 200 lbs SF
(source: bostonherald.com)
Strengths
If Simmons is the Lebron James of this draft, Ingram is the “Kevin Durant”. The name of the game with Ingram is his wingspan. The guy has a wingspan of about 7’3, which makes him a good rebounder and finisher at the rim. However, what reallt sets him apart from Simmons is the fact he is already an NBA ready shooter and can hit shots from anywhere on the floor. The guy is also extremely intelligent and has a ton of potential.
Weaknesses
The big knock against this guy is that he is extremely lanky, frail and his strength likely isn’t up to par by NBA standards. Weighing in at slightly less than 200 lbs at 6’9 is a red flag for some teams as he may not be able to stand up to some of the bigger forwards he would be playing against. He is also not that strong of a defender and will need to work on that.
So now that both have been described and looked at, I will give my pick as to who I believe the sixers should take with the first overall pick in the draft. I believe they should make Ben Simmons the number one pick in the draft as he is more capable on both ends of the floor and the only real gripe with him is the fact his jump shot could use some work.
