Ben Simmons’ Draft Stock Plummeting?

Everyone has been raving about LSU’s Ben Simmons since, like, forever. Sure, he’s run into his share of academic issues recently, however, it has seemed like it has been a foregone conclusion that he’d be the number one pick in the NBA draft later this year. But, along with his academic issues recently, people seem to be second guessing him as the first pick in the draft. It almost seems like it’s becoming the cool thing to have doubts about him.

Jonathan Givony of The Vertical recently explored further of why he thinks Simmons isn’t the number one guy. Here are the reasons Givony listed courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

1. Simmons’ lack of competitiveness in some crucial games has raised questions about his character as a basketball player.
2. Simmons’ box scores have grown increasingly hollow.
3. The report on defending Simmons in the half-court is well known and has been utilized effectively in recent weeks.
4. The concerns about Simmons’ character didn’t magically appear the moment he arrived on campus in Baton Rouge.

I think it was only a matter of time before people started to cherry pick some of Simmons’ game. On the season, Simmons is averaging 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Obviously he’s not a totally polished athlete, but his ceiling is the highest of all those that could get drafted, in my opinion. He’s a young guy and there’s plenty of room for growth.

Simmons will not be playing in the postseason at all. LSU declined to play in the N.I.T., and also passed on the other scheduled postseason events. At this point, what you saw is what you got. With the “experts” starting to sour on Simmons, they’ve started to give Brandon Ingram of Duke a serious look at a potential number one pick. Ingram averaged 16.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in the regular season.

Ingram was a four-time state champ in high school and a McDonald’s All-American, and was also a consensus top three recruit in the class of 2015. He struggled through the first seven games of the season, but started to get things going after that. He stands at 6’8 with a 7-3 wingspan, which is generally equal to your height.

While Ingram can no doubt be a nice contributor in the NBA, teams would be foolish to pass up on kid like Simmons. He’s the type of player that could change the trajectory of a franchise (hint, hint: Sixers). As a Sixers fan, the speculation of Simmons falling out of the number one spot only gets me more excited because that would increase the chances for the Sixers to land him, without having to have the first pick in the draft.