NBA Draft | If anyone is a safe pick, it is Simmons ... not Ingram

Louisiana State product Ben Simmons should be a no-brainer at No. 1 for the 76ers Thursday night during the 2016 NBA Draft in Brooklyn.

by Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

It’s laughable.

You turn on the tube, listen to the radio, scan the internet or, for the really old-school among us, pick up the paper and it comes at you in droves here, just wave upon wave of “insight” that Ben Simmons is not the right guy for the 76ers, that he’s talented but lacks heart or emotion or personality or all three, that he’s lazy, that he lacks character, that he is a cancer in the locker room.

As if anyone saying it or reporting it or commenting on it really knows.

It’s gotten to such a slanted, biased, prejudicial point anymore that we actually have “experts” proclaiming that Brandon Ingram is the safer choice – with a straight face, mind you – when the team goes on the clock Thursday night when it comes time to make the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Really, it’s come to this?

Not for nothing, but if anyone in this year’s crop of eligible selectees is a shot-in-the-dark, take-a-chance option who has risen from veritable no-name status to elite status in short order, it’s Ingram.

An intriguing prospect, Ingram is, no doubt. But the 6-foot-9, 190-pounder has a not-ready-for-primetime body that will require years of training and eating in order to possibly – that’s POSSIBLY – attain a physique that could allow him to perform at an optimum level in the NBA. He comes from a great college program, yes, and one that does not have a tremendous track record in producing quality pro players.

He has no set position. Sure, the league is trending toward more diversified individuals being out on the court together, creating an almost interchangeable conglomeration of five at once. But Ingram, at this level, ain’t really a “2,” a “3” or a “4” and he definitely ain’t a “1” or a “5.”

Frankly, his build is going to be a detriment for some time once he puts on an NBA uniform. He’s going to get outmuscled by everyone, regardless of position, especially when he’s trying to play defense.

Reality is, his whole value comes in two things:

• The ability he has shown to shoot from distance.
• The projection that he may mature physically and evolve into something special, where his “little guy skills in a tall man’s frame” could pay off.

One tangible. One not.

Simmons?

He’s just about the polar opposite. While no youngster coming into the NBA is a sure thing, he is as close anyone this time around because he has the pro body already and his game is every bit as multi-faceted as the one belonging to someone such as Ingram, if not even more so.

Frankly, stacking the two against one another, Ingram tops Simmons in one category – that ability to drain it from distance. Willingly and consistently.

After that, it’s a whitewash in favor of Simmons, including on defense, where he has the size, strength and quickness to guard all “bigs” and likely a lot of “smalls.”

The questions about his character at this point are silly. Like Ingram, he’s still a teen … and has a lot of growing to do as a person.

But, when it comes to what he can do on a basketball court, Simmons is the far more sure thing.

He, not Ingram, is the safe pick.

​No joking.  

Not for nothing, but if anyone in this year’s crop of eligible selectees is a shot-in-the-dark, take-a-chance option who has risen from veritable no-name status to elite status in short order, it’s Ingram. An intriguing prospect, Ingram is, no doubt. But the 6-foot-9, 190-pounder has a not-ready-for-primetime body that will require years of training and eating in order to possibly – that’s POSSIBLY – attain a physique that could allow him to perform at an optimum level in the NBA. He comes from a great college program, yes, and one that does not have a tremendous track record in producing quality pro players ... Frankly, his build is going to be a detriment for some time once he puts on an NBA uniform. He’s going to get outmuscled by everyone, regardless of position, especially when he’s trying to play defense.