PORTLAND, Ore. -- A huge contingent of NBA scouts and GMs traveled to Chicago and Portland the past few weeks to attend the practices and games for the McDonald's All-American and Nike Hoop Summit and get a closer look at the prospective 2016 NBA draft class. Here in Portland, as many as 10 potential 2016 first-rounders played at the Nike Hoop Summit -- most of them potential lottery picks.
I spoke with a number of NBA scouts about which of the players from the high school class of 2015 might be NBA players someday.
The consensus from NBA scouts is that this class isn't as strong as in years past. While there are a few intriguing names at the top, the depth isn't nearly what it's been.
"The last couple of years we've had steak," one NBA scout said. "This year, after the first two or three guys are off the board, we get hamburger. Good hamburger, but hamburger nonetheless."
Still, with so many underclassmen deciding to declare for the 2015 NBA draft, they aren't going to have much competition. Right now we only have one returning college player likely to crack our top 10 in 2016 -- San Diego State's Malik Pope. That could change if Utah's Jakob Poeltl, Arizona's Stanley Johnson, Arkansas' Bobby Portis or Providence's Kris Dunn decide to return to school. But right now Pope's the only guy that can compete with the top players on this list.
Based on numerous discussions with scouts, here's a sneak peek at 10 high school prospects who should be topping our 2016 Big Board when it's released in July.
1. Ben Simmons, F, committed to LSU
McDonald's: 7 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals in 19 minutes
Hoop Summit: 13 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals in 30 minutes
Simmons came into April widely regarded as the most likely candidate to be the No. 1 pick in 2016. He's a very unique prospect. He's 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, but plays like a point forward. He has incredible ball-handling and passing vision for his size, which is why some scouts see him as a poor man's LeBron James. He certainly models his game after James, though he lacks the elite explosiveness of LeBron. Nevertheless, he's also a good athlete that can get wherever he wants on the floor. His jump shot needs polish, he's not particularly long for his position and sometimes he needs to be more aggressive hunting for his shot. But as he showed in the Hoop Summit, he's a potential triple-double machine on any given night -- grabbing boards, leading the break, throwing behind-the-back passes and finishing strong at the rim. If LSU let's him run the show as a freshman, he's going to be a big deal next year.