The Melbourne link goes deep at the 76ers with Maine-born coach Brett Brown a former assistant at the Tigers during David Simmons’ stint. So dedicated and struggling player which I can not describe.
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Simmons is looking forward to playing for Brown and the Sixers. “You have to go with it and you’ve got to work hard”. Who doesn’t he play with?
“It’s been a great experience to coach such a special player and see his dreams fulfilled on draft night being selected No. 1”, Jones said. Simmons has the size of a power forward, the speed and ballhandling ability of a guard and the vision of a point guard. “I believe I can play at guard”.
“You would like for a guy to step in there, but obviously there are some things that, me personally, I’m going to have to protect him with”, Paul said. In fact, Brown called Simmons “Draymond-ish”.
“That’ll sort itself out, right?”
Australia, it seems we’ve now got another switched-on human with the capacity to absolutely tear it up on the biggest stages in the game.
The Sixers tried to trade up into the top five of the draft, perhaps to take Providence point guard Kris Dunn. But as it stands there will be nothing for New Yorkers to boo – or cheer – as both have traded away what would have been lottery picks. The 18-year-old guard played in 56 games this past year, averaging four points on 46-percent shooting (40-percent three-point field goal percentage) in 11 minutes a game. The Sixers are flush with big men, and Simmons is just another big body. Luwawu is a 6-7, 205-pound small forward. Even if Saric makes his decision during the summer league period, Colangelo said it would be “highly or not likely” that he participates because he recently completed his season.
“We’ve had rivalries since we were like seven years old”, Simmons said. “We passed on a few opportunities where we could’ve reached”. It’s his history and his instinct to play that spot.
Philadelphia: 1st, 24th and 26th picks.
As great as James is, he needed nine seasons before he won his first championship. Instead, Boston, which owned the No. 3 pick, left with California forward Jaylen Brown, forward Guerschon Yabusele and center Ante Zizic in the first round.
So Simmons has his work cut out for him. It all starts with outperforming his peers in his rookie season. And Simmons was clearly the top pick.
Just like Exum, Simmons became an instant millionaire when National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver read his name out in Brooklyn on Friday.
Certainly Allen Iverson, aka “The Answer”, was one of those players who fought on the court every day. Ben’s going to get 30 minutes per game nearly immediately and he’s going to be allowed to make mistakes as he learns the pro game. But those are the expectations.
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Overall, Bryan Colangelo and the 76ers staff had a good first draft and were able to effectively fill some needs with three young prospects who each bring a unique skill set to the roster. “I think once that is addressed and discussed and taken care of, there shouldn’t be anything that would hold that process and we’ll get the ink on paper as soon as possible”.
