No FanDuel, the Philadelphia 76ers shouldn’t have drafted Pascal Siakam

People do fantasy drafts, mock drafts, re-drafts, and even fantasy mock draft re-drafts pretty much every day, and it is rarely, if ever, news. Folks like to look back on the past, imagine “what if,” and just generally flex their mental muscles as they genuinely try to understand the ever-evolving game of basketball.

And yet, on the rare occasion, one of these faux drafts, usually one done by a multi-national corporation in a slightly different industry, is so goofy that it generates legitimate reactions based on its sheer goofiness.

Fortunately – or not, depending on your opinion – this is one of those drafts, as FanDuel delivered onto the internet world one of the goofiest mocks you will ever see.

… what? Pascal Siakam first? Ben Simmons eight? Goodness, we need to talk about this one, Philadelphia 76ers fans.

The Philadelphia 76ers probably wouldn’t have drafted Siakam in 2016 or 2022.

Alright, so if, for some reason, the 2016 NBA Draft were to be held today and every player who was initially selected in the goings-on – plus players like Fred VanVleet and Alex Caruso, who both went undrafted – was theoretically available to every team with the added value of six seasons of NBA film, who would the Philadelphia 76ers select at pick number one?

Well, that depends on whether or not Ben Simmons is willing to play for the franchise in this scenario. If, hypothetically, he’s down to play for the hypothetical Sixers, then this really isn’t much of a debate: Simmons was considered the best player in the 2016 NBA Draft, and that hasn’t particularly changed since.

Sure, his desire to take the court isn’t ideal, and his offensive game hasn’t developed nearly as much as some had hoped, but his combination of defense, passing, stealing, blocking, and scoring in the full-court is second to none in the 2016 class, and pretty much every other team in the draft would have agreed.

If, however, the Sixers didn’t want to roll with Simmons because they already have Tyrese Maxey and James Harden – is that how this works? – or because he refuses to play for the team, then the list of players who would realistically be on Daryl Morey’s list would likely feature multiple names higher on the list than Siakam, namely Jaylen Brown and Brandon Ingram.

Of that duo, Ingram was widely considered the better prospect coming out of college, but that hasn’t quite translated to the pros. While Ingram has a single All-Star appearance on his resume and might even be a better fit in some offenses due to his specific playing style, Brown is a much better two-way performer with legitimate talents on the defensive end of the court, and that, likely, would give him the nod to a team like the Sixers who have been desperately looking for a big wing of the Cal prospect’s caliber for years now.

‘But weren’t the Philadelphia 76ers linked to Siakam in Simmons trade talks? How could folks be happy to trade one for the other but not draft one over the other?’ Yes, Siakam was a hot name on the Simmons trade market, and fans likely wouldn’t have been too disappointed if two NBA’s two Cameroonian All-Stars teamed up in South Philly, but that had more to do with Simmons being a distressed asset and players like Brown and even Ingram being off the block. If Simmons was available at the 2021 NBA trade deadline – which he wasn’t, because he was untouchable – he too would have drawn a much bigger return and likely would have required Toronto to attach multiple first-round picks to get a Siakam deal done.

Sorry FanDuel, the comment section of your tweet is justified; this re-draft stinks for everyone but the Sacramento Kings.