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NBA Draft: 5 best destinations for Ben Simmons

By John Buhler

Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) looks on from the court in the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) looks on from the court in the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 15, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens on the sideline during the game against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana Pacers defeat Boston Celtics 103-98.Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 15, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens on the sideline during the game against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana Pacers defeat Boston Celtics 103-98.Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

player. 18. . East. Atlantic. Boston Celtics. 1

While the 2015-16 Boston Celtics are 40-30 through their first 70 games and are poised to make some noise in the 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Celtics are one of a few teams that has a realistic shot at landing Simmons in the 2016 NBA Draft.

This is because of one of the cruelest rights to a pick swap to date. Because the Atlantic Division rival went all-in on winning a championship two and three years ago, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge received a right to a pick swap from the Nets in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Nets are 19-50, in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, and have the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

Boston can not only make the Eastern Conference Playoffs and go as deep as the want to, but the Celtics have potentially favorable odds at nabbing Simmons at the top end of the Lottery because of the pick swap with the Nets.

Not only would Simmons make the Celtics better, but he would play for the best young coach in the game in Brad Stevens in Boston. Stevens has taken a team devoid of a superstar and will make back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference Playoffs while other organizations would have given up and thus extended the rebuilding process.

Stevens could absolutely teach Simmons how to play phenomenal defense. If he can teach him how to become a sharp shooter, Boston has its best superstar since Paul Pierce. Not that Simmons will make the Celtics a team to perennially contend for Eastern Conference Finals trips immediately, but the team with the highest floor of any in the NBA in the Celtics would have seen a major boost to its finite ceiling with Simmons on its roster.

Boston is a good team already under Stevens, but if Simmons goes to the Celtics, Boston has a realistic chance to win another NBA Championship within the next five years with him as the focal point of their dynamic young roster. With Simmons in Celtic green, Ainge could then appropriately transition into the next stage of the Boston rebuild and go after marquee free agents to formulate another championship caliber team in Beantown.

Simmons to Boston seems storybook and a bit too good to be true, but in all honesty, there isn’t a better match for him than the Celtics. If Boston gets either No. 1 or No. 2 from the Nets in the NBA Draft Lottery, the most decorated franchise in the NBA would have its next transcendent superstar in Simmons.

For more posts on the 2016 NBA Draft, please check out our NBA Draft hub page.

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