Jonah Bolden joins Big Ben Simmons in 76ers colours

Ben Simmons will have an Australian mate at Philadelphia after Jonah Bolden was drafted by the 76ers.

Jonah Bolden, who was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers

Ben Simmons will have an Australian mate at the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jonah Bolden had to wait a little longer at the NBA Draft in New York yesterday to hear his name called out than he had hoped, but when it did come it was music to his ears.

The 21-year-old, 208cm tall power forward slipped to the second round before the 76ers picked him up with the 36th pick.

“I know Ben pretty well,” Bolden said. “When we were young we played against each other.”

Simmons, 20, was the 76ers’ top overall pick in last year’s draft and along with head coach Brett Brown, the former NBL and Australian Olympic men’s coach, forms a strong Aussie connection at the NBA team.

Simmons and Bolden, both born in Melbourne, also form what is becoming a formidable new generation of sons of US professional basketball players who moved to Australia to play in the NBL in the 1980s and ended up staying and raising families.

Simmons is the son of Bronx-born Dave Simmons, a power forward/centre who played on multiple NBL teams, including the 1998 Sydney Kings with Bolden’s father, Mississippi-born power forward Bruce, a 17-year NBL veteran. The Utah Jazz’s Dante Exum is the son of Cecil Exum, another US NBL import from the era.

Bolden’s journey to the NBA Draft took him across the planet. He left Australia during high school and refined his basketball skills at schools in New Hampshire and Nevada before accepting a scholarship at UCLA.

But after two years he quit and signed a contract with Serbian club FMP Beograd where he was named the Adriatic League’s top prospect.

NBA teams kept a close watch on Bolden, sending scouts or coaching staff to Serbia.

Bolden will form a dynamic young group at the 76ers with Simmons, Joel Embiid, Jahil Okafor, Dario Saric, Nik Stauskas and this year’s No 1 overall pick, University of Washington point guard Markelle Fultz.

Brown said he will still use the 208cm tall Simmons as the 76ers’ top point guard, despite the addition of Fultz.

“The more we see Ben play, we have had a fantastic month of June, we are excited to use him as the primary ball carrier,” Brown said.

The news was not so good for Sydney’s Isaac Humphries and Melbourne’s Mangok Mathiang at the draft.

The 213cm Humphries, who spent the past two years at the University of Kentucky, and 208cm Mathiang, a five-year veteran at the University of Louisville, both did not have their names called out at the draft.

American 19-year-old Terrance Ferguson, who played last season with the Adelaide 36ers, was selected by the Oklahoma Thunder with the 21st pick of the draft.

Ferguson shocked US basketball when he opted not to take up one of many scholarship offers from elite American college programs. He instead made the trailblazing decision to turn professional and play a season with Adelaide 36ers in the NBL.

Australia will now compete with Europe for elite American high school stars who want to skip the mandatory one year of amateur basketball at a US college and instead earn money with a one-year deal overseas. Ferguson said he has been contacted by some players contemplating an NBL stint.

“Although he only shot 38 per cent down there (in Australia), those of us who have seen him a lot know he can shoot it,” ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said.

Fraschilla described Ferguson as being potentially the ultimate three-point shooting and defensive-minded guard.

“If you want 3-and-D, you want to build that program going forward around Russell Westbrook, you’ve added a kid who can really shoot it,” Fraschilla said.

AAP