Simmons became the second Australian to be taken with the top pick after Utah Jazz selected Andrew Bogut in 2005 in his only college season.
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Skip to the 2.30 minute mark to see how Simmons explained his chat with LeBron. Ben spent one season at LSU and averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting a whopping 56 percent from the field.
A couple of the draft’s best shooters went next, with New Orleans grabbing All-American Buddy Hield from Oklahoma, and Denver picking Kentucky freshman Jamal Murray at No. 7.
“It is going to take a lot of work and everyone has to be on board, but we have a young team and I’m looking forward to get there”. O’Neal was the last Tiger selected as the top overall pick when he was taken by the Orlando Magic in the 1992 NBA Draft.
They have crowned the Australian big man Ben Simmons from Louisiana State University with the first overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft on Thursday. Despite a collection of players drafted in the lottery in recent years, Philadelphia is turning to Simmons to be the focal point. However, they lack depth in the back-court, meaning Simmons could be asked to play guard despite his size.
“It’s important that we don’t put Ben in a position where he feels the weight of everything”, general manager Bryan Colangelo said at a PCOM press conference Friday.
“You would like for a guy to step in there, but obviously there are some things that me, personally, that I have to protect him with, and if all is good then we look forward to it”, Paul said.
“You can put me anywhere one-through-five on either offence or defence”. He also can drive to the basket and has an NBA-ready body to play physically underneath.
Simmons’ father Dave Simmons played for 76ers Coach Brett Brown in 1989 in Australia.
Ben Simmons said he feels really comfortable with Brown because of that pre-existing relationship and said he couldn’t ask for a better scenario to begin his professional career.
“It feels fantastic, honestly”, Simmons said. “.I would expect it to be nothing more than a formality, but to be cautious, we will call it at this time probable”. “I’m definitely in the right situation”.
The Sixers’ third first-round pick, Furkan Korkmaz of Anadolu Efes in Turkey, isn’t expected to play in the summer league because of Turkish national team commitments, Colangelo said.
“These players … are just a part of the story as it unfolds”, Colangelo said.
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“Maybe he evolves there but to start with that is how we will play him (at power forward)”. He’s pictured in this Sixers Instagram post along with Christian Crosby, the team’s in-arena host, who’s posing between the two draft picks.
