Now that they have the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, it seems like a near certainty that the Los Angeles Lakers will end up with either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram on draft night. The Philadelphia 76ers have the first overall pick and are reportedly "leaning heavily toward" selecting Simmons as their coach publicly compares him to LeBron James, Magic Johnson, and Kawhi Leonard.
Still, there is at least a chance that the Sixers could decide they value Ingram's shooting and overall fit more for their roster, which would "leave" the Lakers with LSU's sensational freshman. Not a bad consolation prize.
The major knock on Simmons in the lead-up to the draft is simple: he can't or won't shoot. The 19-year old's shot doesn't look totally broken, but so far it has been his one glaring weakness. Simmons has to know this, and it looks like he's spending the offseason addressing the major blotch on his otherwise sterling resume (video via Dennis Scott's Instagram, h/t Eric Yee of Lake Show Life):
That shot looks decent enough, even if the guy working with Simmons in the clip is defending him about as well as the chair Yi Jianlian abused on the way to getting selected sixth overall in 2007.
Simmons release still looks a little hesitant and he is not exactly playing game speed, but workouts like this one are what will help make him into a passable shooter in the future. For a player who's had his work ethic and other intangibles get picked apart by scouts and amateurs like vultures drawn to a corpse basically the entire year, this a promising sign that Simmons desire to be great is not dead on arrival.
The soon-to-be Lakers or Sixers rookie appears to want to get better, which is good news for whichever team takes him on June 23rd.
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