The Philadelphia 76ers finally were rewarded for all of their losing, winning the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft at Tuesday night's lottery. They will have their pick between Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, but they will also be flooded with trade offers. So, what will they do with the top pick? Here's all the latest Sixers draft rumors:
76ers favor Ben Simmons?
The debate apparently isn't much of a debate for the Sixers. According to Bleacher Report, Philadelphia is "leaning heavily" towards taking Simmons:
The 76ers will further investigate Ingram, but they have great confidence in the upside of Simmons, whose ambidextrous athletic ability at 6’10” and 240 pounds comes with innate basketball instincts.
It’s not as if the 76ers need to get to know Simmons to decide if they want him. Simmons was born and raised in Australia, where 76ers director of performance research and development David T. Martin was an iconic sports-science leader until leaving the Australian Institute of Sport for Philadelphia in 2015.
Sixers head coach Brett Brown also coached Simmons’ father, Dave, with the Melbourne Tigers. All of that history with Simmons has allayed any concerns over his attitude and inconsistent motor during his one season at LSU.
Is Ingram the better fit?
Even though the Sixers plan to take Simmons, would Ingram be the better fit? Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders thinks so:
More executives than not believe with Dario Saric coming over, that 76ers best fit is Brandon Ingram. Simmons too similar to Saric.
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) May 18, 2016
Dario Saric, who the Sixers acquired in the 2014 draft, has spent the last two seasons playing overseas and is expected to join Philadelphia this summer. Saric does have similar size at 6'9" and 225 lbs, but he is a much, much better perimeter shooter (40.3 percent from three-point range).
Sixers "highly unlikely" to trade pick
Other teams will undoubtedly as if the Sixers are willing to trade the top pick, but that's not happening, according to CSNPhilly.com's Jessica Camerato:
B. Colangelo: "It is a highly unlikely scenario that anything comes forward that would lead us to move the pick." #NBADraftLottery #Sixers
— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoCSN) May 18, 2016
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