While the NBA playoffs have been in full swing, there has been an NBA Draft debate going on within non-playoff NBA front offices.
Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram.
On one hand, you have Simmons, the athletic marvel at 6-foot-9 who can attack the rim with ease, create looks for his teammates with preternatural basketball IQ and vision, and rebound with the grace of and strength of Blake Griffin. On the other, there is Brandon Ingram, the model of today's modern NBA. He's long and quick enough to eventually switch onto multiple positions defensively, take advantage of switches on both ends of the spectrum offensively due to his size, and has the kind of shooting and floor-spacing ability that all teams are looking for from players at 6-foot-9.
Tale of the Tape
| Ben Simmons | Brandon Ingram | |
| 19 | Age | 18 |
| 6-10 | Height | 6-9 |
| 240 | Weight | 190 |
| LSU | College | Duke |
| SF | Position | SF |
| 7-0.25 | Wingspan | 7-3 |
| 9-0.5 | Standing reach | 9-1.5 |
| 19.2 | Points per game | 17.3 |
| 11.8 | Rebounds per game | 6.8 |
| 4.8 | Assists per game | 2.0 |
| 56.0 | Field goal percentage | 44.2 |
| 33.3 | 3-point FG percentage | 41.0 |
| 1 | CBS Sports Big Board | 2 |
| 1 | Vecenie Mock Draft | 2 |
| 1 | Parrish Mock Draft | 2 |
In reality, this isn't a draft that has a can't miss superstar. There's no Anthony Davis, no LeBron James, or no Karl-Anthony Towns. Neither of the top two picks are perfect. After all, there's a reason I had neither player in the top 10 prospects of the one-and-done era when I ranked them all last month. Simmons has shooting and defensive questions, and Ingram isn't an elite athlete plus has concerns about his bulk. If both of these guys just ended up as solid NBA starters and not all-stars, I wouldn't be shocked. But someone has to go number one in this draft, and it's going to be one of these players.
Here are the three reasons why I'm going with Simmons over Ingram on my final Big Board.
Athleticism
Simply put, Simmons is a better athlete than Ingram. It's possible that Ingram will continue to add some explosiveness to his game as his frame fills out and matures, but it's not there yet and that's difficult to project. The Australian is a full year older than Ingram, but he possesses significant advantages in strength, quickness, and explosiveness vertically.
That explosiveness should serve him well at the next level, as his first step will allow him to blow by players big enough to guard him and also help him finish above the rim.
It's not just the explosiveness though. After all, he's not Blake Griffin or Andrew Wiggins in that category. It's the explosiveness paired with the fluidity. The way Simmons moves with grace and ease is just different from how most other players his size move. Ingram has this fluidity too, and you see it in moves like this one against Virginia earlier in the year.
It's more of a smooth fluidity than an explosive one. At the next level, I'd rather have the explosiveness and quickness. To me, that's going to lead to more efficient shot opportunities, and there are plenty of numbers that show that point. The most telling numbers are the ones that show their ability to score efficiently around the rim.
Ingram finished in the 41st percentile this season in proficiency around the basket in half-court settings, scoring at only a 1.035 point-per-possession clip. Simmons, on the other hand, got to the rim more often and finished at a 1.248 clip, good for the 77th percentile nationally. Plus, he did that despite the fact that teams routinely geared up to stop him from scoring efficiently at the rim due to LSU's lack of spacing. Another telling statistic is free throw attempts per 40. Simmons got to the line over 10 times per 40 minutes this year, leading all college draft prospects both on an unadjusted and pace-adjusted scale. Simmons' 10.3 attempts per 40 dwarfed Ingram's 5.5, showcasing how difficult it is to stop him once he gets a head of steam.
Simply put, Simmons is going to have a much easier time breaking down a defense and getting into the lane. Then when he gets there, he's going to finish with more efficiency. Oh, plus he's going to create at a higher level, as we'll show later.
Strength
At the NBA level, strength really does matter. You're going against men night after night, and you have to have the energy and bulk to bring it. I expect Ingram to fill out somewhat, but he's never going to quite be as solidly built as Simmons.
Simmons is able to score through contact in ways that Ingram simply cannot, plus he's capable of rebounding at an elite level. This season, Simmons averaged 11.8 rebounds per game and posted a 26.8 defensive rebounding rate. Because of his ability to bang inside and also read the ball off of the backboard, it's easy to imagine him becoming a double-double force at the next level.
It's not that Ingram is unwilling to take contact. He's an absolute fighter, and will improve in this capacity as he puts on weight. It's just that Simmons has a lower center of gravity, more power in his lower half, and more ability to absorb contact and play through it. It's tough to pass up that kind of package even in the face of skill in today's modern NBA, as it should also help Simmons become a strong defender if he so chooses. His strength and explosiveness outweigh Ingram's length for me in terms of defensive potential in a modern NBA where defending the perimeter and switching screens is more important than protecting the rim at the 1 through 4 positions. It's all about mentality for Simmons, who will likely become a strong defender if he wants to be one.
Creativity
Simmons is much more creative than Ingram, but that's relatively obvious. After all, the LSU product is more creative at his size than just about any player to enter the draft since LeBron. I mean, which pass do you pick to showcase that creativity? The Marquette game from earlier this season showed a wide variety of them, including some in transition as well as a few in the halfcourt.
The bounce passes through multiple players with spin. The diagonal passes for open 3s. So many of these passes are translatable to the NBA to the point where it's difficult to find peers in terms of who can make them at his size. At the college level, the only high-major forwards over the past six seasons to post a 27.4 assist rate or higher outside of Simmons were Draymond Green and Royce White -- and neither of those two can pair Simmons height with his penchant for flair.
In the NBA, it's going to be a bit easier for him to find lanes, as well. As we've seen with Green for the Warriors, bigs who can really pass and create looks for teammates can have tremendous value not only out of the low post, but also in dribbling into the teeth of a broken down defense then finding a way to either create an open shot or put that opposing team in rotation. Simmons is going to be able to do that with ease, then also add in the ability to athletically rip rebounds and lead the break to create shots with his speed and explosiveness in the open floor. He might become a true triple-double threat night after night due to that vision. There's a lot to build upon here, and a lot to like about how he'll affect the game with his passing.
Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like about Ingram, too. His shooting ability is obviously much stronger than Simmons', and in today's NBA that really matters a lot. He's also become a terrific isolation scorer, and in today's NBA where getting an advantage on switches is so important that's a massive boon to his game. Finally, the questions about Simmons' mentality just don't exist with Ingram, as he's always a kid that plays hard on both ends of the floor despite some of lack of strength. He's a battler, pure and simple, plus he's over a year younger than Simmons and will fill into his body even more than the Australian will in the NBA.
There's upside here, and there's already a really talented player. If you wanted to say that Ingram fits the modern NBA best and therefore is worth the No. 1 overall pick, I wouldn't really argue all that much. It's a defensible opinion, to me.
Last word
But if I'm picking at No. 1, I want to go with the highest upside player who has the biggest chance to be a star. While I think Simmons is far from a sure thing in that realm, I do think his combination of athleticism, strength, creativity, and basketball IQ give him a leg up in that realm. It's a question of fit versus upside, and at the top I go upside.
Since the end of November 2015, Simmons has been the No. 1 player on the CBS Big Board. Even through the questions about his mentality, his toughness, and his shooting, I've held strong in that belief. There's no reason to change now that games are done.