Measurements
6’10” 239 lbs 7’0″ wingspan 19 years old
Pro comparison
Similar to Lamar Odom, Michael Beasley, and Evan Turner
Strengths
- Size
- Athleticism
- Dribbling
- Passing
- Versatility
- Strength
Weaknesses
- Shooting
- Length
- Questionable effort
- Turnover prone
- Basic offensive game
- Soft
- Stat hunter
Simmons was touted as the best prospect since Lebron James and has been compared to other players like Magic Johnson. I prefer the comparisons of Lamar Odom personally, even Micheal Beasley. With that being said, Simmons is a rare talent worthy of being a top 2 pick, but I view him more of a good role player piece than a franchise cornerstone. It may take him a few years in the NBA to figure out his role. Simmons is a good athlete and will be a mismatch against PF’s and SF’s. He can dribble extremely well for his size and has great court vision. He can finish in the lane with runners, dunks, and layups, but lacks basic post moves. He thrives in the open court, in isolation, and in broken plays. He is built physically for his age, but fails to take advantage of it at times, he can be a bit soft on both offense and defense. Shooting is his achilles heel, his mechanics aren’t bad, but he lacks confidence to shoot from anywhere on the court. I included some high school footage of him which shows him shooting 3’s. With coaching there is potential for improvement, but it makes me wonder where he is going to fit in the NBA. He is a tweener in a sense that he lacks length (short wingspan) for the PF position and can’t stretch the floor for the SF position. Lastly his lack of effort at times is a red flag. He would take plays off on defense and be invisible for stretches on offense. He failed to take over towards the end of big games and failed to lead LSU to the NCAA tournament. Overall Simmons is too talented of a player and will be solid in the NBA, but I do wonder how he will adjust to the pros.