3. Drafted Ben Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz (2016)
Ben Simmons was seen as the sure-fire No. 1 pick in 2016. His talent and athleticism at 6-10 had some scouts labeling him as “LeBron 2.0.” There were questions about his shooting ability and attitude, but NOTHING like today. Still, Bryan Colangelo selected Simmons with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
Despite Simmons missing his first season with a foot injury it looked like a great move. Simmons debuted the following season and won the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year award. He was then selected as an NBA All-Star for three straight seasons.
Simmons and Embiid formed a pretty good one-two punch. The young Aussie was consistent (16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and two steals per game from 2018-2021), but the Sixers and their fans wanted more out of Simmons on the offensive end.
He was a poor free-throw shooter. Teams would go to a “Hack-a-Ben” strategy in 4th quarters of games. It practically became breaking news whenever Simmons ATTEMPTED a three-pointer, let alone when he made one.
Then, there was the wide-open dunk he passed up in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semis against the Hawks. That led to an off-season and training camp full of drama. The 76ers then traded Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden, which was a GREAT move for Philly considering the circumstances.
Still, I look back at the 2016 NBA Draft and wonder what could have been. Colangelo could have ANY of the following guys instead of Simmons at No. 1:
- Brandon Ingram
- Jaylen Brown
- Buddy Hield
- Jamal Murray
- Domantas Sabonis
If that wasn’t bad enough, Colangelo also had the No. 26 pick in that year’s draft and selected Furkan Korkmaz. He could have had any of the following instead:
- Pascal Siakam
- Dejounte Murray
- Malcolm Brogdon
Imagine how deep the Philadelphia 76ers COULD have been. Again, they had opportunities.