2016 the beginning of the Ben Simmons Era

[mef730]

That SI post from a few days ago projects the Nets to have the 5th worst record next season.
If Brook Lopez goes down for any extended period of time they could plunge even further.  Our bad luck with draft position has to change at some point - now is the time.

I know a) rankings change as the draft approaches and it's EARLY and b) nbadraft.net is not always the most accurate, but if you look at their mock for next year the top 7 players are either SF or C with the only 'exception' being a 7-0 PF.  So, the draft next year matches up nicely with our needs.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2016mock_draft

Funny, this one has the Celts at 15, 16 and 21. How disappointed would we be if those turned out to be our picks?

I'm surprised Malik Pope is ranked at 28. That guy was moving up the draft board quickly last year.

Mike

I believe they just left it in the order teams finished the regular season last year.

Completely agree on Pope, I think he's a lotto talent. I know TriBoy is on board with us.

D'oh! Got tripped up by some of the draft pick exchanges.

Mike

[chilidawg]

Draft express and SB nation both have a Haitian Kentucky recruit Skal Labissiere as the number one prospect for the 2016 draft, a little surprising given all the hype Simmons is getting.  SB also calls it a weak class.

[max215]

Draft express and SB nation both have a Haitian Kentucky recruit Skal Labissiere as the number one prospect for the 2016 draft, a little surprising given all the hype Simmons is getting.  SB also calls it a weak class.

Skal is supposed to be pretty great. I believe he and Simmons are considered to be head and shoulders above the other prospects. I've seen Skal compared to LaMarcus Aldridge and Simmons to TMac. Jaylen Brown or Brandon Ingram could be nice consolation prizes if the Nets pick doesn't jump into the top 2.

[Csfan1984]

Draft express and SB nation both have a Haitian Kentucky recruit Skal Labissiere as the number one prospect for the 2016 draft, a little surprising given all the hype Simmons is getting.  SB also calls it a weak class.

Skal is supposed to be pretty great. I believe he and Simmons are considered to be head and shoulders above the other prospects. I've seen Skal compared to LaMarcus Aldridge and Simmons to TMac. Jaylen Brown or Brandon Ingram could be nice consolation prizes if the Nets pick doesn't jump into the top 2.

I suggest we all call him Lab for short Skal makes some of us cringe lol

[jdz101]

And he's an aussie.

What could go wrong 

**deliberately fails to mention exum's rookie year**

[slightly biased bias fan]

https://youtu.be/voJS3UkaLio

https://youtu.be/XocMa6j89Ic

[Celtics4ever]

Impressive video, but that competition was pretty weak.   Guys trying on D, but not that good at it.   Looking forward to see how he does at LSU, the SEC will have much better competition.

[slightly biased bias fan]

https://youtu.be/iDkiyFUhxSI
https://youtu.be/rLX6seHH-zQ

I've noticed that some people are comparing him to busts like Turner, Williams and Beasley, but he is nothing like any of these players. Beasley and Williams like many from HS just dominated with sheer athleticism and never really had a huge skill set going into the draft and Turner really lacks hops to even compete on defence nor the dribbling skills to be an great point forward. Simmons has already show he is a fantastic dribbler and athlete the only real nock on him is that he can be lazy but that can be attributed to how easy the game comes to him and the previous lack of competition. His work ethic has never been questioned though and Im sure his defence will get stronger as he matures and he also has a fantastic group around him including his father and brother (who is also a div II coach) as Simmons could have actually declared for the draft early ala Exum but wanted to mature his game in college before making the jump to the professionals. I would say Simmons has the potential to be a poor mans Lebron X Griffin, as he doesn't have either's extreme athleticism but still has superstar potential as many pros have pointed out already, which is rare.

[chambers]

I actually think that Brandon Ingram may overtake Simmons as the consensus number one pick.
The kid is a twig but he's a hybrid SF/PF and draft express think he could eventually be an NBA SG.

He's got fantastic handles, 7'3 wingspan and an incredibly quick release with a beautiful stroke.
He's shown the ability to do pretty much anything on the offensive end. His defensive potential with that reach is huge too.
He's skinnier than Kristaps Porzingis but he's got wide/broad shoulders and a 9'3 standing reach.

I think he's going to be the biggest threat to Simmons going #1.
I also think because he looks like he's 16 that he's probably gonna keep growing more than his current 6'9".

[chambers]

And he's an aussie.

What could go wrong 

**deliberately fails to mention exum's rookie year**

Was probably a benefit playing in the Melbourne Junior leagues- it's a notoriously rough league and he would have had a target on his back in every game.

Exum was an injury, can't really blame him for that.

[slightly biased bias fan]

https://youtu.be/qbSPgzWnn44

Simmons impresses in LSU debut

Ben Simmons scores 11 points, records 13 and five assists in No. 21 LSU's 81-70 win over McNeese State.

[Adelaide Celt]

22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 0 turnovers in LSU's easy win over Kennesaw State. He's starting to get warmed up.

[Celtics18]

And he's an aussie.

What could go wrong 

**deliberately fails to mention exum's rookie year**

Was probably a benefit playing in the Melbourne Junior leagues- it's a notoriously rough league and he would have had a target on his back in every game.

Exum was an injury, can't really blame him for that.

Exum was one of very few rookies to play all season last year, and he stunk up the joint.  I mean, offensively, he was really, really bad.

He got some credit for being decent defensively because folks were feeling bad for him.  He can thank Rudy for the assist on that.

Sorry, he's not the Aussie Penny Hardaway. 

[jdz101]

And he's an aussie.

What could go wrong 

**deliberately fails to mention exum's rookie year**

Was probably a benefit playing in the Melbourne Junior leagues- it's a notoriously rough league and he would have had a target on his back in every game.

Exum was an injury, can't really blame him for that.

Being from Melbourne the only thing that makes Australian basketball rougher at times is poor refereeing. If the refs are experienced and know how to control a game its no rougher than any other competition.

Exum had a really bad year injury notwithstanding.

Simmons playing in proper US college competition will stand him in much better stead for the NBA.

[PhoSita]

I'm trying not to buy into the kind of thinking in this thread because I remember watching a lot of Jabari and Wiggins highlights a couple years ago.