The no-brainer on this list, that was really hard to miss when Eversley was first brought aboard as an executive in the Sixers front office was picking the former LSU Tigers 6-foot-10 and 230 pound point forward Ben Simmons first overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. There was gradual improvement of Simmons, and a bit of a rocky chemistry formation with Embiid.
But Simmons is overall a promising face of the franchise for the Sixers, and likely the one they would keep around if they had to decide between trading him and Embiid. Granted that would be a difficult decision anyway you break it down.
Simmons took a while to make his debut, since he missed all of his original rookie season due to injury problems. But he really broke through during the 2017-18 campaign as he would win the Rookie of the Year honors. He’s also been an All-Star selection representing the East in each of the last two seasons.
In his roughly two and a half years playing with the Sixers, Simmons averaged 16.4 points per game, 8.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.8 blocks. He shot 56.1 percent from the field, just 8.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 59.4 percent from the charity stripe, good for an effective field goal percentage of 56.2.
In the current season that is placed on hiatus, Simmons does lead the NBA in steals per game (2.1). He registered a box plus/minus rating of 3.7, .161 win shares per 48 minutes, 0.6 value over replacement player rating, and 62.5 true shooting percentage.
If the Bulls could get a No. 1 overall pick in the lottery this year, hopefully they could get a potential face of the franchise like the Sixers could be developing with Simmons.