I do not think Simmons is a good option for Center at all. Bulking him up the amount he'd need to be so he could play Center full time would probably hurt him long-term. He's a physical player on the drive, but the toll that playing full time Center would take on him would be tremendous. If anything he'd probably make a better full time Point Guard than Center.
I'd honestly like to hear your thoughts on why it would hurt him. He weighs enough to be a center in today's NBA. You think maybe he's not strong enough?
Yeah strength has a lot to do with it. In college he was kind of selectively physical where in space he'd create contact, but sometimes under the rim he'd get pushed around. Long-term that kind of weight with the way he plays would hurt his knees. Look at all the health issues Stoudemire has had in his career! If we wanted to go small ball and have him play there for small stretches in the game, that's one thing. I think he could Draymond Green out there nicely, but to put him up against guys that are going to be consistently stronger than him just won't work over the long term.
VERY excited about our pick! From watching material on both Simmons and Ingram I basically agree with all of you, we cannot go wrong and that is an awesome position to be in. There are a lot of ways this offseason can play out, but all of them should be great, considering where we were a couple of weeks ago! I am already anxious to hear any semi-reliable-ultimately-completely-irrelevant so-called insights on who the Sixers intend to draft. One question that I've been starting to think about is, if we get Simmons, is there any way to start both him and Randle, because of the lack of shooting? Getting Horford might help, but could we still afford Clarkson as a starter? My intuition is, while there is a chance we can make a good trade, I would generally love to have Simmons on the Lakers and have the youngest, most exciting team in all of the NBA (?). So how is this feasible without completely destroying our idea of a half-court offense? What do you guys think? edit: I should mention I do not really see Simmons as a (starting) center. That to me seems like taking it to the extreme...
If you get a Center who can hit a jumper (Horford), then I think Simmons and Randle can still work together. One of Randle or Simmons need to be able to hit a short-range jumper though probably. It'll be on Luke to make it work that's all. Look at San Antonio though. They're a modern, fast-paced offense and Duncan and Parker aren't knock-down shooters from distance. Heck Aldridge isn't really a long-range shooter either. Oklahoma's best lineup features Roberson, Kanter, and Adams none of whom are great shooters. It's all about man and ball movement and finding ways to accentuate our players' strengths. Something Simmons should be able to do is make our defense dynamic. If we end up with Simmons, he and Randle should be able to do what Jordan and D'Angelo can do defensively which is switch everything. That's a bit of a leap of faith for Clarkson, Randle, and Simmons but they are capable physically of it so it's on our coaches to figure it out. We should have four guys who can fly around the perimeter and cause chaos. Then we'd have at least three players in D'Angelo, Julius, and Simmons who could grab the rebound and take off with it on the break. We should be an unstoppable breaking team and strong on the glass.
Good point, but I was comparing his pre-draft measurements to another all-star center in this league, Al Horford. Simmons Height w/o Shoes - 6'9" Height w/Shoes - 6'10" Weight - 240 lb Wingspan - 7'0.25" Standing Reach - 9'0.5" No Step Vert - 37.0 Max Vert - 41.5 Al Horford Height w/o Shoes - 6'8.75" Height w/Shoes - 6'9.75" Weight - 246 lb Wingspan - 7'0.75" Standing Reach - 8'11" No Step Vert - 31.0 Max Vert - 35.5 So basically if he put on 6 lbs of muscle he'd be a slightly taller and much more athletic Horford. I'm curious as to why it's working for Horford for a decade and a no-go for Simmons.
Simmons can play center. This isn't the same league when Amare played center for Phoenix. Not even close. There's maybe two really physical centers that can give him problems. Whiteside and Cousins. Other than that most centers are finesse or under sized.
I get the argument, but I disagree with just looking at size/weight/wingspan... He does not look like Amare did, nor like any other starting center in the league that I can think of, even today. If we want him to run breaks with the ball, he should maybe also not be so close to the basket on defense all the time. Again, for stretches it sounds good, if we intend to go small.
Did you think this skinny kid would spend half his career as a starting center? Simmons has a much thicker base than Bosh. And I think the fact that he's a strong rebounder makes us a dangerous team in transition. He would blow by the opposing team's center and create multiple fast-break opportunities, much like Julius but even more lethal because no center can match his speed.
Simmons is closer to a SF than a C. He might be close enough in size to play the 5, but if you stick him down there, you're immediately downplaying the strengths in his game. He excels as a playmaker in the mid-to-high post/elbow area of the floor. Let him roam around there and be the natural playmaker he is. Sticking him under the basket to bang with bigger players just neutralizes his strengths. Makes no sense other than short spurts playing smallball.
Yep. He will be a physical mismatch at either spot. At sf he'd be taller and longer than the other sfs (but just about as athletic) and at center he'd be significantly faster. So since you're going to have an advantage at either position physically, it's better to put him in the spot where his "skills" are better utilized. Lebron COULD play center too. You wouldn't put Lebron at center because his strengths are on fuller display at sf.
i think position only really matters on defense. your center can bring the ball up the floor if you want, but somebody has to box out against jonas valanciunas. that's where the injury fear comes in for me. repetitive stress of banging and fighting for position with larger players is dangerous. i think it's why tim duncan insisted on playing pf for large portions of his career, despite the fact that he's a classic center in almost every sense. i think you at least need a 20mpg big to bang against other teams' bigs. the league hasn't changed as much as people indicate in terms of playing big guys. the four teams left all play bruisers consistently. i don't think that's an accident. long term, simmons and randle are basically an impossible fit, imo. but that's ok. in the short term, there's enough minutes for both, given that either could play some smallball 5 against second-line bigs. but starting simmons at center as a long term strategy...no me likey. and simmons does make more sense for philly anyway, so this may all be moot. ingram makes a ton of sense if the lakers end up keeping the pick.
Why would he have to be a SF to do that? He could roam in that area and playmake as a 5 too. Simmons is a bit different than Lebron imo. Lebron is most effective at SF because he's bigger, faster, and much STRONGER than most 3's. One thing to note is that Simmon's weakness would also be on fuller display at SF. He can't shoot. Not much of an issue as a 5.
Lebron couldn't shoot much either when he first came in. And Simmons will be bigger and faster than most 3's, just not stronger. Simmons should/could end up being a rich man's Odom. Odom would have gotten so bogged down playing center.
Rich man's Odom or poor man's Lebron I guess. It seemed like the only way he'd coexist with Julius, but oh well. If Simmons at the 5 can't work I'd want Ingram. Actually I want Ingram anyway.
Kevin Ding has a tremendous piece on the Sixers' and Lakers' mentality: I won't copy/paste it so Ding can get his clicks, but check it out. He's got well placed sources that say Simmons is basically a lock for Philly and the Lakers love Ingram. Bring on KD-lite!
