By: Brandon Apter, managing editor 
This offseason is going to be the pivotal one in the Sixers rebuild with a ton of moving parts, both in the draft and on their own roster. To start things off, the team could potentially have four first-round picks in the upcoming draft, but in all likelihood they will get either two or three of those. In addition to that, the Sixers have Joel Embiid continuing his rehab and Dario Saric hopefully coming to the states to join the team next season. Though Embiid and Saric are big parts of the teams' process, the draft has been the focus this year with the amount of picks the Sixers have accrued.
Philadelphia has the highest probability to win the draft lottery at 99.7%, with the Lakers lined up for the second pick (97.9%), according to Basketball Reference's pre-draft projection. The talk this year has been mostly about the Sixers tanking for Ben Simmons, but Duke's Brandon Ingram has closed the gap between him and the LSU forward, though Simmons is still likely to go first overall.
Monday morning, Simmons told ESPN's Jeff Goodman that he plans to hire an agent and declare for the NBA draft.
"I'm making it official," Simmons said late Sunday night.
This season for LSU, who missed out on the Championship Bracket and declined an invitation for the NIT tournament, Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game for the Tigers. His ball-handling and court vision allow him to play anywhere from oversized point guard to power forward, but he has seen most success as a hybrid point forward. Despite his upside, there are doubts about Simmons' jump-shot or lack thereof. Jonathan Givony of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports put Brandon Ingram ahead of Simmons on his draft board and wrote a column as to why he believes so. Givony highlights Simmons and his lack of competitiveness in big games along with his lack of confidence in his jump shot.
Simmons’ lack of competitiveness in some crucial games has raised questions about his character as a basketball player. While many top picks succumb to the NBA star lifestyle and emerge as average competitors, it’s rare to see that at the collegiate level. From Blake Griffin to Michael Beasley to Carmelo Anthony, those elite college players were rarely questioned about their drive during their collegiate careers. Simmons has displayed an apathy for defense, contact and delivering winning plays in crucial moments. Those troubling revelations in Simmons’ game are cause for concern among decision-makers on lottery teams with whom we’ve had contact.
The report on defending Simmons in the half-court is well known and has been utilized effectively in recent weeks. Teams are putting smaller players on Simmons, backing off him and daring him to shoot. Simmons seems to have zero confidence in his outside shot and becomes passive when guarded this way.
Meanwhile, Brandon Ingram, who is expected to be taken right after Simmons, or potentially even before, has averaged 17.1 points and and 6.8 rebounds for Duke this season, shooting 44.2 percent from the floor.
