And-Ones: Simmons, Beasley, Bargnani, Maxiell

The improvement throughout the season that Duke small forward Brandon Ingram has displayed and his greater opportunity for a postseason showcase gives him a decent chance to unseat combo forward Ben Simmons as the presumptive No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, but Simmons is still out in front, as Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com examine. The “overwhelming majority” of people around the NBA still think Simmons will be drafted first, Ford writes, believing that it’s because of his potential to play like a taller, more athletic Draymond Green. Still, Simmons’ lack of midrange and outside shooting is a concern, Ford adds. See more from around basketball:

  • Michael Beasley recently turned down an offer from Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and remains steadfast in his effort to return to the NBA, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Stein reported Tuesday that multiple NBA teams are monitoring the former No. 2 overall pick.
  • Andrea Bargnani rejected an offer equivalent to about $143K per month to sign with Olympiacos of Greece, which has instead turned its sights to Jason Maxiell, according to the Greek outlet Sport24 (translation via Sportando‘s Emiliano Carchia). However, Maxiell isn’t interested in the club’s idea of including an option for next season on the deal, notes international journalist David Pick (on Twitter).
  • Many agents and teams would like to see the league and the union discuss what to do about the moves that teams make in the aftermath of a trade that ultimately gets voided, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports hears. The Sixers lost JaKarr Sampson, whom they waived to open a roster spot for last week’s trade with the Rockets and Pistons, which was nullified Monday. Philadelphia reportedly wanted to re-sign him, but he had already inked with the Nuggets by the time the trade was called off.
  • The reversal of the trade meant teams that aren’t in the tax are projected to each receive an extra $200K, Marks notes in the same piece. That’s because the Rockets are back in line to pay the tax, and thus a greater amount of money is available for the league to distribute.
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