Lakers Draft Prospects: The Case Against Ben Simmons

Talk about the Lakers’ prospects for the 2016 NBA Draft has been non-stop, but that talk shouldn’t include Ben Simmons

If they keep their pick, the Los Angeles Lakers will be picking in the top-3 in the 2016 NBA Draft. In that position, you not only need a great fit skill-wise, but you also need a great person with a positive team attitude.

This will be a hugely unpopular opinion, but LSU forward Ben Simmons is not ready for the NBA, skilled or not. He should have gone to play for a school where he played alongside equally skilled players if he wanted to go to the NCAA tournament and if the NIT isn’t good enough for him (LSU declined an NIT invite). Colin Cowherd agreed, going on a rant on his radio show about how Simmons should have gone to a bigger program.

Maybe Simmons should stay in school another year or transfer to a school with a stronger tradition and pedigree to get experience playing with more skilled players. But he won’t do that—he’s entering the 2016 NBA Draft.

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In the draft (assuming they keep their pick), the Lakers need size, dominance in the paint, and a great rebounder that can share the ball. Adding someone who can score 20 or more points per game wouldn’t hurt either. They need a team player, someone who fits in nicely with his personality and his skills. What they don’t need is a self-centered rookie that needs to learn how to lead a team to victory. Simmons fits the bill athletically and statistically, but we all know it takes more than that to make it in the NBA.

Subsequently, he is not the right pick for the Lakers in the 2016 NBA Draft.

You don’t need someone who bows out of a competition just because they don’t feel worthy of the honor bestowed on your team. You don’t need a player who brings down a team and puts himself before the team before he even gets into the NBA. You don’t need a player who can’t carry his team in the NCAA. If he is the star, he should be able to carry his team to wins.

All of that is just part of the case as to why Ben Simmons is not your guy. Not only did he and his team suffer due to his academic struggles, the game of basketball seems to be all about Ben Simmons and not his team. If he cared about his team he wouldn’t have let his grades slip. He would have found a way to invigorate his teammates to win more games and he certainly wouldn’t have bowed out of the NIT Championship.