School: Georgia State
Year: Junior
Height/Weight: 6’3, 195 lbs.
Strengths:
D’Marcus Simonds can flat out score the ball. He loves to take the ball to the rack and use his quickness to get by his defenders to make that a reality. He has a nice tight handle and is one of the hardest players to stop when he gets a head of steam.
Simonds’ future in the NBA is as a slasher. He can get to the rim in a flash and can use either hand to finish quite effectively. His athleticism is what also allows for him to do that. And he has even thrown down some pretty incredible dunks during his time with Georgia State to showcase that athleticism.
Another strength in D’Marcus’ game is his ability to heat up. When he gets it going, HE GETS IT GOING. He’s a true microwave and if he just gets a bucket or two to go, you need to get right up in his grill on defense otherwise he is going to cook you.
And it’s not just his shooting that seems to heat up. As Simonds is starting to feel it in a game, everything else starts to come together. He starts to look a lot more energetic on defense, his handle becomes even more tighter, and his turnover rate starts a dip. Sure, it makes sense that a player would be looking better when he starts to hit his shots, but for Simonds it is his confidence level that immediately elevates his entire game. Georgia State is a hard beat if D’Marcus is hot. He has the talent and ability to make that type of impact on a team.
Another thing that is really going for Simonds is his length. He’s a fantastic rebounder and uses that length to contest shots quite effectively when he’s being disciplined. And it’s not only contesting shots, but he also makes some pretty eye popping blocks on the defensive end. When he’s active on D, he’s a fun watch.
Weaknesses:
That’s the thing about Simonds, he’s not all that disciplined. And that goes for his activity on both ends. On defense, he’ll attack closeouts without being in control. That leads to a huge advantage for the player with the ball because Simonds isn’t fundamentally sound on that end. He’ll often bite on pump fakes as well which leads to easy buckets for the opposition.
We spoke about him being a microwave earlier in the strengths section given how quickly he can get hot, but now we have to talk about the other side to that, his consistency.
Simply put, it’s ugly to look at. As hot as he can get, he can become equally as cold. And the problem with Simonds is he won’t stop shooting. Now to be fair, that’s what Georgia State needs. He is clearly there best and most important piece and they absolutely need him to take over games. The problem is this is going to be a very difficult adjustment for him to make in the NBA.
Last year, Simonds shot below 30% from the 3PT line and he’s going to do that again this year. And to go with that, his FG% will be well below 45% and much closer to that 40% range. For him to succeed in the NBA, he needs to become a much more consistent scorer and shooter from beyond the arc.
Future Outlook:
We thought D’Marcus Simonds was going to declare following his sophomore year, but that wasn’t the case. And the player we saw return to Georgia State was not the one we were hoping for. We were hoping for a player who was going to be much more consistent from 3 and from the field in general. Unfortunately, we saw the opposite.
Now, will all of that being said, Simonds is still an extremely talented ball player with a ton of potential. He’s long, can handle the ball, and does show true flashes of offensive brilliance. Seriously, he can LIGHT up the scoreboard, we need to make that perfectly clear. But, if he doesn’t become more consistent, can he really become any better than Michael Carter-Williams?
For now, we see D’Marcus Simonds as a late 2nd round pick, but don’t be surprised if he decides to return for his senior year and prove all of his doubters wrong.
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