Between now and the June 28 NBA Draft, SUPERSONICS.COM will break down one of the top 15 prospects in the draft per day, getting audio analysis from Sonics Director of Basketball Operations Dave Pendergraft and commentary from Sonics play-by-play broadcaster David Locke and SUPERSONICS.COM's Kevin Pelton. Today, North Carolina State forward Cedric Simmons.
Pendergraft's take:
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Locke's take: Cedric Simmons is all about upside. That is a polite way of saying he is nowhere near ready to play today.
Lots of things about Simmons concern me. He isn’t great at anything. In fact, he is a below average rebounder for his size. He is prone to foul trouble, which may mean he lacks an understanding of the game and its flow.
The positive is he shot a great 58% in college and blocked 2.5 shots a game. The other good sign is NC State had a very good year and they did so without a marquee stud, which may mean Simmons is better then people realize.
Simmons fails the Locke test. He was not the go-to guy for the Wolfpack.
The second time through the ACC he was stymied. His big game NCAA Tournament games were unspectacular averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds, right on his season averages.
Pelton's take: Yeah, rebounding is a big issue with Simmons. He grabbed 9.2 rebounds per 40 minutes as a sophomore, which is mediocre at best for an NBA big man, let alone one in the NCAA. The fact that North Carolina State played a relatively slow pace helps adjust that slightly upwards, but Simmons is going to have to improve in this regard.
This is a good place to remind everyone of how important fit is for NBA players, as we saw with a guy who can be said to resemble Simmons in Chris Wilcox. With the half-court Clippers, Wilcox got lost in the shuffle behind an All-Star in Elton Brand. He blossomed after being traded to Seattle. More so than hoping to go in the lottery, Simmons should hope to end up with a running team with a point guard who will get him the ball in transition.
The unfortunate thing for Simmons is how deep this year's class is at power forward. Another year, Simmons might stand out more, but right now he isn't getting a ton of hype.
