The Philadelphia 76ers landed their first No1 overall draft pick in 20 years on Tuesday at the NBA’s draft lottery, putting Australia’s Ben Simmons in line to head to the team that finished the season as the worst in the league.
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With the post-Kobe Bryant era now in full swing, the Los Angeles Lakers came away with the number 2 selection in the upcoming draft.
But if they went for Ingram, the LA Lakers, which ended up with the No. 2 pick after the lottery, would nearly certainly swoop on Simmons. On a nailbiting night when the Philadelphia 76ers were awarded the first pick in the June draft, the Lakers were given something far more valuable, and without the Steve Harvey howl.
Philadelphia had the best chance of getting the top pick with a 25 percent chance thanks to their 10-72 record. Simmons would also be just the second LSU player to be picked first in the draft, the first being a guy you may or may not have heard of: Shaquille O’Neal.
Simmons was long viewed as the consensus No. 1 choice, but Ingram has caught up and even passed him in the eyes of many. The 76ers will have to find a way to figure out a way to play with so many big men, however, as the top pick will probably bring another forward to the team.
The 2016 NBA Draft Lottery has finally been set and fans of the Los Angeles Lakers can now breathe a hefty sigh of relief.
Where will No. 1 pick Ben Simmons land for his rookie season? The rosters were young, inexperienced and plummeted to the bottom of the standings.
We’ve already revealed who we have the Celtics picking in our post-lottery mock draft, but here’s a roundup of some of the other National Basketball Association mock drafts from around the Internet and who they have the Celtics taking on draft night. They’ve been a bit secretive with the medical side of things with Embiid, simply because the media could take some of the information and have a field day. I tend to think they’ll keep the #1 pick, but they have young players and additional picks and a new GM that is looking to get back to winning.
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“There are a lot of different connections to make me better informed how to help our organization make a calculated decision”.
