The 2015 NBA Draft Thread: Draft Day Is Here

[mj 23]

Bro, do you even know what player you're talking about?


He can't shoot it near the level of AD or has his offensive or defensive prowess.


He's a good ball handler, good athlete, good passer and finishes well at the rim but he's nothing even resembling AD.


He's 6'10 with a 6'11 wingspan which is nowhere near "great".

AD is 6'10 with a 7'6 wingspan.

Obviously he can't shoot like AD now, but there's thing called developing your game and improving on it? From the footage I have seen there is no way this kid has a 6'11 wingspan, his arms are long as hell.

 

[awwsome]

Obviously he can't shoot like AD now, but there's thing called developing your game and improving on it? From the footage I have seen there is no way this kid has a 6'11 wingspan, his arms are long as hell.

He just got measured at the Hoop Summit, it's 6'11.


All players improve but comparing him to AD who shoots 48% from midrange at age 22 is unrealistic.

 

[User 15002]

His athleticism, ball handling skills for a big man, and a jumper. He has the same body type as AD, tremendous wing span and is a defensive anchor.

What?! Are you talking about the kid going to LSU? He is nothing like AD. Might be some beer goggles going on here. Kid has a nice pace to his game. We'll see how it translates to the college level. Too early to tell for NBA. For me, I'll give him a more mobile Boris Diaw.

Edit: Just saw the other comments.

 

[the gr8est]

Man ive heard that Simmons can play the 2. Not that its the end all be all by any means but nbadraft.net compares him to T-Mac. I know he just shot up a couple inches, but from what I know about him, he is still more of a 2/3 than a 4/5 like Diaw or AD. Dude is going to be a problem.

Imagine if Sixers draft Russell, tank for another year, and then takes his ex-HS teammate Simmons? 

 

 

[johnnyredstorm]

they'll package them both for a first rounder in 2018.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Totally forgot but my co-worker told me a few days ago that he and his friend saw Okafor in downtown LA. The friend asked if he could take a picture and Okafor literally stiff armed him and said na no pictures 

 

[wavycrocket]

Two crazy ends of the spectrum here.

He's nothing like AD, and nothing like a "more mobile Boris Diaw".

Ben plays like a less explosive Blake Griffin. Particually how Blake played this post season. He's a good athlete, very fluid, great instincts.

You'll all see by this time next year. I'm predicting a 17ppg 8rpg & 4apg year from him at LSU next year.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Boris Diaw 

 Come on man 

 

[the gr8est]

they'll package them both for a first rounder in 2018.

I think all yall are underestimating his ability to play guard with all of these Blake, AD, Diaw comparisons. I also think he averages more than 4 APG at LSU next season. I guess well find out soon enough though.

 

[keel252]

His athleticism, ball handling skills for a big man, and a jumper. He has the same body type as AD, tremendous wing span and is a defensive anchor.

Bruh.

First off the kid is 6'8 with no jumpshot at all. But I will give you to the ballhandling and passing but man you missed with this comparison.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

He's definitely not 6'8 

Comments both ways are getting weirder and weirder 

 

[the gr8est]

Bruh.

First off the kid is 6'8 with no jumpshot at all. But I will give you to the ballhandling and passing but man you missed with this comparison.

He shot up to 6'10 by the end of senior year, and going off by what I have read about him I definitely would not say he has "no jumpshot at all." His J is definitely developing, but it is for most kids his age.

He definitely has a guard's feel to the game though. And he averaged 28 ppg, 12 rpg, 4 apg, 2.6 spg, 1.5 bpg playing for the #1 high school team in the country, never losing control of his #1 prospect ranking even after going into the season with it and playing with a target on his back.

I know it is way too early to tell but show the kid some respect. He definitely has the makings of a franchise type player, if not one of the best players in the entire NBA, even if it is premature.

Boris Diaw 

 

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Hey Boris Diaw is skilled tall guy that can play point forward, stroke the occasional 3, rebound.

 

[keel252]

I mean haven't seen the kid play since the Oak Hill game so the J might still be improving and at his age he probably did shoot up to 6'10 but you know how they gas height and weight. Listen the kid has talent, I love the fact that he passes the ball. I like the BG comparison. But that doesn't change the fact that the AD comparison is wild.

I'm waiting to see the first couple games then make a decision on him. I've learned my lesson over the years. I won't be fooled by highlights and high school ball again.

 

[carver]

Let's wait to see if he can do it in the college game. The Harrison twins were highly rated in hs as well.

 

[a mufasa]

The top of the draft doesn't have any franchise players. The role players projected in the lottery and late 1st to early second round don't stand out to me. However, I can also see those players becoming contributing rotational guys.

When I look at the top of next years draft, I see about 3 franchise players and a few more potential all stars.

Really? I think this draft has one sure fire franchise guy (Towns) and potentially two others (Okafor & Russell) and the rest of the top nine players have the potential to be all stars. This draft is deep.

 

[frshstunna]

Let's wait to see if he can do it in the college game. The Harrison twins were highly rated in hs as well.

alotta ppl did say the Harrison's wasn't that good tho...they was hyped cuz they 6'6 pgs that was using that height advantage to bully high school pg's

And this draft def doesn't have a "sure fire franchise guy" on draft day ...maybe somebody can develop into one but we'll see

 

[awwsome]

Towns is a franchise talent.

 

[frshstunna]

Franchise talent ? Sure ...sure fire franchise player , nawwwww...that's bron, shaq type territory where you KNOW they can't fail ...if Towns ends up averaging 13 and 10 some ppl won't be surprised

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Realistically, I have only Towns and Okafor as franchise type players, with Towns being ahead of Okafor due to the defense

I don't think Russell has it in him if I had to put money on it but I do think he could top out as a 2nd option

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Tier 1
Towns

Tier 2
Okafor
Mudiay
WCS
Russell

Tier 3
Zinger
Mario
Stanley Johnson
Winslow
Kaminsky

Tier 4
Lyles
Booker
Turner
Payne
Oubre
Hunter

Tier 5
Portis
Tyus
Dekker
Grant
Looney
RHJ

 

[shoeking2102]

Ben Simmons whoop

 

[carver]

 

Let's wait to see if he can do it in the college game. The Harrison twins were highly rated in hs as well.

alotta ppl did say the Harrison's wasn't that good tho...they was hyped cuz they 6'6 pgs that was using that height advantage to bully high school pg's

And this draft def doesn't have a "sure fire franchise guy" on draft day ...maybe somebody can develop into one but we'll see

Yeah, but they were just recent examples.. But it's basically every year, really 

To name a few more recently Cliff Alexander, Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson and the list goes on.

Austin Rivers 

 

 

[keko jones]

Nobody knows man. You can tell but so much from the college system. You are looking for fundamentals, shooting, IQ and leadership. A lot of this cats sometimes play on a team that do not showcase their abilities as the coaches are set on their offense. That's why you have a lot of bust and you have dudes outside top 5 becoming bigger stars.

You do have sure fire stars like someone mentioned, but I do agree, some are just potential.

 

[the gr8est]

The hype surrounding Simmons seems to be a lot closer to Lebron hype than any of the players 

 
Yeah, but they were just recent examples.. But it's basically every year, really 

To name a few more recently Cliff Alexander, Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson and the list goes on.

Austin Rivers 

 

The hype surrounding Simmons seems to be a lot more like Lebron protege type hype than the others you mentioned. Who were all blue chip HS prospects, no doubt, but not at that kind of level. Most NBA scouts seem to think that Simmons might be the next in line to be the best player in the league some day.

Not to say that will happen necessarily, a lot can happen between now and then. But I dont foresee it to be likely that this kid ends up like Shabazz or Cliff or Kyle. And as a NJ native, Kyle Anderson was and still is one of my favorite prospects. I think he has a very bright future ahead of him, especially as he develops within the Spurs organization. But Simmons seems to be the entire package. Probably the most cant miss high school prospect in recent years. Again, I will fully acknowledge that sometimes hype is just hype, but Simmons seems to be more at a Lebron level protege status, RIGHT NOW, not quite as much as Lebron was, but closer to him than any of the players you mentioned.

People knew that the Harrison twins were flawed. No mocks had them going near #1 in the draft when they were in HS. Although Andrew was getting some Derrick Rose comparisons at the time.

Kyle was never really considered a one and done candidate and it was no surprise to anyone when he decided to stay for a sophomore season at UCLA.

People definitely had Cliff Alexander ranked a lot higher in mocks coming into Kansas before he failed to live up to expectations and then got injured, but he was never considered to be a #1 overall pick kind of player. He was very good, but people knew what he was. A 6'8 high motor power forward with a very limited offensive game. Those kinds of players dont come with such a high ceiling in today's league. At his highest, I used to see him somewhere from like the 6-10 range in mocks, before things went south for him.

I guess out of all these guys you mentioned, Shabazz could be the closest to what Simmons is right now. But that was before the whole age scandal thing really hurt his stock as well as his poor shooting at UCLA. And even before that whole thing happened, he was losing his #1 prospect in the country status to Nerlens after Nerlens joined their HS class. It was pretty much split between the 2, but by the end of the year most evaluators had Nerlens as the #1 prospect in the country.

Simmons has been the consensus cant miss #1 high school prospect in an extremely talented class. His height has blossomed to about 6'10, but he still has a guards feel for the game and I believe he will play guard at the next level, which could make him a mismatch nightmare in the league. He has a very complete offensive game, which gives him a sky high ceiling. He also produces. He didnt shy away from expectations at all this year, consistently remaining the #1 prospect in the nation while leading the best HS team in the nation. I dont think any of the players yall mentioned were ever at that level. I predict he will have a great season at LSU and be the consensus #1 pick next summer.

Again, its still very early. But I cant remember any HS players in recent memory who have had the kind of cant miss/protege hype that Simmons has right now. I definitely dont think that Okafor or Towns did. Mudiay might have actually been the closest to that in this class, but obviously the hype kind of died down when he went to China. But people forget that most people had Mudiay as the top high school prospect and probable #1 pick in this draft at this time last year.

The last player I can think of with a similar kind of hype in high school to Simmons probably goes back to Greg Oden, who I still think would have been an absolute force in the league if it were not for his injuries. Before Oden, there probably wasnt a prospect touted like Simmons since Lebron and Dwight, and Simmons' game has a lot of similarities to Lebron, without getting too carried away.