NBA Draft 2018 Prospect Watch: Anfernee Simons
By Adam McGee
What the experts say
(As of 5/13/18)
ESPN (Jonathan Givony): 21st
The Ringer (Kevin O’Connor, Jonathan Tjarks, Danny Chau): 28th
Sporting News (Chris Stone): 22nd
The Athletic (Sam Vecenie): 29th
The Stepien (Staff): 57th (Tier 7)
The Step Back (Brandon Kleen): 29th
Quotes:
Jonathan Givony of ESPN sees the potential in Simons, but views him as a long-term project worth gambling on in the mid to late first round rather than an immediate contributor:
"“Simons is one of the least NBA-ready players in the draft, but he’s intriguing due to his combination of youth, explosiveness and shot-making prowess.”"
Mike Gribanov of The Stepien is far from sold on Simons, but acknowledges his upside making him an intriguing risk in spite of question marks over his playmaking and defense:
"“He has the sort of upside that is probably still worthy of a top 40 selection but in the grand scheme of things, his inability to create for teammates and lack of defensive impact make it hard to project Simons as the sort of lottery talent that some have labeled him as.”"