2016 NBA Draft, 10 Years Later: Simmons as the draft’s loudest hit, Brown as the Celtics’ foundation piece, and Bender as a cautionary whiff

Ten years after the 2016 NBA Draft, teams can measure more than how prospects perform in their first contract. They can measure how decisions compound. In an anniversary look, CBS Sports revisited that class with superlatives for both the best and the most regrettable outcomes, framing the draft as an unusually dramatic mix of breakout stardom, ideal fit, and misses that shaped the next several years.

The headline name in the class is Ben Simmons, selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. CBS Sports’ anniversary roundup treats the No. 1 pick as the draft’s biggest hit, pointing to how central Simmons quickly became to Philadelphia’s identity. For a team, the significance of a top selection is not just talent, it is timeline. A first overall pick is expected to anchor a core, and Simmons became one of the league’s most talked-about young players early in his career.

On the other side of the class, the Celtics’ top selection is framed as the best “first step” toward future championship contention. Boston used the draft to select Jaylen Brown, and CBS Sports’ anniversary assessment treats that choice as a major early-building block. In practical roster terms, Brown represented what every title hopeful wants from a high pick: a young wing around which a team can organize both half-court scoring and overall defensive versatility.

Boston’s connection to the “best pick” narrative matters because it reflects how draft success is often less about a single season and more about whether a team builds the right kind of foundation. Brown’s selection, as CBS describes it, was not merely a good pick on paper, but a move that fit the Celtics’ broader direction as they transformed from a talented roster into a team built to contend. Ten years later, Brown’s presence in Boston’s longer-term plans is presented as proof of the pick’s staying power.

If the hit section highlights the promise of a franchise-altering player, the whiff category highlights the cost of draft misreads. CBS Sports points to the Phoenix Suns selecting Dragan Bender with the No. 4 overall pick as the “biggest whiff” element of the class, emphasizing how that particular result aged poorly for a lottery team. A top-five selection carries expectations of near-term impact and development potential, and Bender’s outcome is included as a symbol of how even seemingly reasonable evaluations can fail to translate into on-court payoff.

The reason anniversary retrospectives like this remain useful is that they compress an entire evaluation cycle into a single public argument. A draft class is often judged early on, but the real test arrives later, when careers diverge and teams either cash in on their picks or absorb the consequences of misses. CBS Sports’ framing suggests that 2016 was a class where the “ceiling” bets were sometimes realized, while other long-term bets did not provide the return that a top pick is supposed to deliver.

Looking ahead from the 10-year mark, the main question for fans is not only “who was best,” but “what does each outcome teach a front office.” The Simmons and Brown stories reinforce the value of identifying players who can fit evolving team needs over time, while the Bender caution underscores how quickly a lottery miss can force a franchise into perpetual rebuilding decisions. For the 2016 class, the decade-long verdict is clear: some choices became cornerstones, others became lessons.

In the end, CBS Sports’ anniversary roundup is strongest as a reminder that draft results do not follow a straight line. Even successful picks operate in shifting league contexts, coaching changes, roster construction, and player development variance. That is why, a decade later, the most compelling part of the 2016 NBA Draft story is the contrast, not just the names: it is a portrait of how NBA dreams can become either a core or a detour.