Simmons declines pre-draft workout for 76ers
Philadelphia may be known as the City of Brotherly Love but NBA prospect, Ben Simmons, is refusing to reciprocate.
Simmons, who many believe will be the top pick in this month’s NBA Draft, has so far declined the 76ers invitation to work out for the team, a decision Sixers president Bryan Colangelo insists will not prohibit the team from selecting Simmons should they decide to draft him with the no.1 overall.
“Everything that we get with our intel as it relates to Ben is that he would very much like to be selected No. 1,” Colangelo said.
And therein lies the problem. Simmons’ camp believes their client should be the top pick in the NBA Draft. The 76ers, by all indications, would like to take Simmons. So what exactly is the hang up and why won’t Simmons agree to a workout?
“His agent has decided that is the process they are undertaking,” said Colangelo. “Why don’t you call (Simmons’ agent) Rich Paul and ask him. It has nothing to do with us, and nothing to do with Philadelphia. Everybody goes about it a little differently. Sometimes players decide to work out, sometimes they decide not to work out.”
By refusing to work out, Simmons could leave the 76ers no recourse but to consider taking Duke star Brandon Ingram with the top pick. A possibility that seems to be gaining steam with each passing day.
The 6-foot-9, 190 pound Ingram, who averaged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in his lone season at Duke, has had lunch with Sixers head coach Brett Brown and met with a slew of the team’s players at his workout including big men Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid.
“Brandon is everything we thought he was. Obviously in a one-on-none workout you aren’t going to learn everything about a player, but that is why we scouted a lot of basketball games, watched a lot of tape,” Colangelo said. “He is a versatile forward that was handle the ball, shoot the ball … he is a silky-smooth small forward.”
Could Ingram actually jump Simmons, who likely won’t be making a trip to Philadelphia, for the No. 1 pick?
“It changes every day,” Colangelo said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report
