One of the best features of the NBA 2K franchise is the ability to simulate a near-infinite amount of NBA scenarios with painstaking detail, and then feeling your jaw slowly drop to the floor at the absurd results. And yet, if I told you two summers ago that Kevin Durant would be joining the Golden State Warriors for the 2016-17 season, you’d swear I was talking about some sort of make believe NBA 2K scenario, anyway, making NBA 2K as good of a predictor for future NBA happenings as anything else. It’s one of the many reasons why the NBA is so successful. Crazy sh*t happens every single night.
We ran a feature in October highlighting NBA 2K17’s ability to predict the future when we simulated the entire 2016-17 season, and the results were positively insane. How could we possibly make an NBA 2K simulation even more absurd, you ask? How about 10+ NBA seasons predicting the success of the 2016 rookie class? Yup, that’ll do it.
Here we go.
All-Star Weekend 2017
For as little emphasis as we put on All-Star Weekend’s ‘Rising Stars’ game, or whatever the NBA decides to call it during a given year, you never want be a highly-touted rookie and not land a spot in that horribly played exhibition game. It’s the first major checkpoint for NBA rookies. It’s their first showcase on a national stage. It’s important to them.
Noticeably absent from NBA 2K17’s equivalent of the ‘Rising Stars’ game is Denver’s Jamal Murray, and Phoenix’s Marquese Chriss. On the other hand, the Philadelphia 76ers seem to be developing nicely.
NBA Finals 2017 – Golden State Warriors
NBA 2K17 is predicting that the Golden State Warriors will be taking home the Larry O’Brien trophy this time around, making Damian Jones and Patrick McCaw the first members of the 2016 rookie class to win an NBA championship! Congratulations, Damian Jones and Patrick McCaw!
All-Rookie 1st and 2nd Team
Now we’re talking! NBA All-Rookie first and second team results bode well for the future of The Process, and look at Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert sneak his way in there!
Rookie Of The Year – Ben Simmons
If you get depressed at the sheer mentioning of Ben Simmons because of how awful it is that we may not see him on the court this season, this might not be the NBA 2K17 simulation for you. This is the first of many awards for Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons. The folks behind NBA 2K17’s simulation programming are clearly, clearly Ben Simmons fans, as you will soon find out.
Now that we’ve more or less cleared the 2016-17 season, I’m going to start fast-forwarding to the next relevant landmark for the 2016 rookie class. That takes us all the way to 2018-19 when our first 2016 rookies land a spot on the All-NBA 3rd Team in 2018-19, and then the All-NBA 2nd Team in 2019-20.
All-NBA 3rd Team 2018-19
All-NBA 2nd Team 2019-20
NBA Finals 2020 – Philadelphia 76ers
Behind stellar performances from 2016 rookies Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric, NBA 2K17 is predicting an NBA title for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020. Trust The Process, Sam Hinkie, etc. Congratulations, Philadelphia! Lord knows you deserve it for the pain that was the last several years. For real, though – the 76ers are going to be so much fun. I’m happy to see NBA 2K17 on that hype train with us.
NBA Finals MVP 2020 – Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons is making himself quite the legacy.
All NBA 1st Team 2020-21
Surprise, surprise, Ben Simmons becomes the first member of the 2016 rookie class to land on the All-NBA 1st team. He’s also the only player from the 2016 rookie class to land on an All-NBA first team.
NBA Finals 2021 – Los Angeles Lakers
NBA Finals MVP 2021 – Brandon Ingram
Good God, that’s Brandon Ingram’s music! In all seriousness, how frustrating is it that the Lakers are already this good and this fun so soon? It feels like just yesterday that Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom won back-to-back titles for L.A. and it’s starting to feel like we’ll be dealing with D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, and the brilliance that is Luke Walton’s coaching for the next decade. NBA 2K17 is predicting an NBA championship for the Lakers in 2021, and an NBA Finals MVP for Brandon Ingram. Good grief.
NBA Finals 2022 – Los Angeles Lakers
2016 rookie Brandon Ingram didn’t take home NBA Finals MVP for the Lakers in 2022, their second straight NBA Finals win for those keeping track at home. I’m sure Mr. Ingram would be just fine this result. Another Lakers dynasty. Give someone else a chance, would you?
NBA MVP 2023-24 – Ben Simmons
Finally! NBA 2K17 has Ben Simmons taking home NBA MVP honors in 2023-24, making Simmons the only member of the 2016 rookie class win Rookie of the Year, land on the NBA All 1st Team, win NBA Finals MVP, and win NBA regular season MVP. He did everything an all-time great is expected to do. Welcome to the top-10 NBA players of all-time argument, Ben Simmons.
I simulated through 2030 without seeing a lot more notable action out of the 2016 NBA draft class. Much like NBA Draft pundits predicted, this really was a two player draft class. Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram have elite potential, and the rest of the top-10 top out at ‘fringe NBA-All star’ level at best.
In the interest of documenting the NBA 2K17 predicted careers of 2016 draft class rookies not named Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, here’s a few quickies on what kind of statistics you can expect from your favorite rookies over the next several years.
