Ben Simmons was NEVER supposed to be a Point Guard
By Jim James
The process is unraveling. This was news a while ago, but I never got to it. Now however, we have a new update on the Ben Simmons debacle, as on Monday, Simmons shocked EVERYONE and showed up. How did we get here, and more importantly, as you must be asking, why? Why do you say that Ben Simmons was never supposed to be a point guard? In this post, I’ll tell you. Here we go.
The Ben Simmons timeline
We start on the story of Ben Simmons’ basketball career, from being touted to being a future star at a young age, Going to College, getting Drafted #1, and his NBA Career so far.
His story of relevancy starts in 2013, 3 years before being drafted when he moved to the USA to play for Montverde Academy (Star of a Post in the near future), where he broke out and made national headlines. He broke out as a star in 2014, in his Junior year of high school, where he averaged 28 points and 12 rebounds. Amid offers from Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas, he chose LSU.
At LSU he scored 19 points per game and got 12 rebounds, and teamed up with former NBA player Antonio Blakeney, and made it to the Elite Eight. He declared for the 2016 NBA draft. May I tell you that at LSU, he was utilised as a Center, only got 5 assists per game, and made one three the whole season from 3 taken, while averaging 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 block per game.
In the 2016 draft, he was selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, becoming the latest cog in the process, hoping to pair up with a now healthy Joel Embiid coming off 2 big injuries to start his career. However, during training camp, the prized asset rolled his ankle, and it was later revealed that he fractured a metatarsal bone in his right foot. He missed his draft year.
Prior to the start of the 2017-18 season, reports came out saying that Ben Simmons was going to play point guard, which drew him comparisons to a young Magic Johnson. Yeah, 5 years after he was drafted, Magic Johnson had already been a 2x NBA Champ, 2x Assists leader, 2x Finals MVP, 4x All Star, 2x Steals Leader, 2x All-NBA first team, and 1x All-NBA second team. Ben Simmons himself was quoted of saying that he could fit anywhere. But play me point guard.
He did well in his rookie year. 16 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. He attempted 1 three and missed it in a league where the 3-ball is one of, if not the main weapon in a team’s attacking arsenal. Another big concern was that his free throw percentage was only .008 higher than his field goal percent. However, if he continued the growth, He would likely to live up to the hype.
The 2018-19 season began with Ben Simmons being expected to put up around 20-25 points per game, and if he got slight improvements on his assists and rebounds, he could start to live up to the legendary potential set out for him. Ben did do this, he got the Sixers to the finals, Markelle Fultz re-emerged as a great player again, and Ben Simmons gets to be regarded as one of the best Point Guards in the league. Or, that was what he wanted to happen anyway. 18 points per game, his highest season average so far, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and a shot percentage higher than expected. The biggest jump emerged in the free throw section, where he improved by 4%, jumping from .560 to .600. However, major improvement needed to happen, as his jump shot was still broken and he looked a better fit elsewhere. Brett Brown even said he’d experiment with Simmons at the 4, but he got injured for the end of the season.
Season Three is the tell all season for most prospects, and this was Ben Simmons’ third year of participation, although the 4th season since being drafted. Believe it or not, he declined. 16 points per game, 1 less rebound per game, 1 less assist, and a block decline. Although this could be blamed on the bubble, this was a player that was supposed to be the next Magic, Michael Jordan, Penny Hardaway and that was not what it looked like. Being 23 that season, he was running out of runway.
Season 4 was basically the same as season 3, but he embarrassed himself in the second round, a main reason for this post. But Ben Simmons isn’t a Point Guard, and I’ll tell you why.
Ben Simmons isn’t a Point Guard for 3 reasons
Reason 1: He can’t shoot threes
This is the main reason, and in a league where three pointers are center stage, your point guard has to be able to shoot threes. A few years ago we would have pointed to Russell Westbrook as an example to disprove it, but look at him now. He has declined, and become not much more than a trading token that has been traded for 3 consecutive offseasons. In fact, every non-shooting point guard in the league has declined. Ben Simmons is about 15 years too late to be anything all-time due to that lack of three point shooting. Now we could point to the Sixers’ front office in the 2019 summer when they got rid of their last sharpshooter in JJ Redick and got together a team of non-shooters. In a situation like that, your point guard has to step up and shoot threes, improve on his threes, but Simmons refused to get a trainer for that during the summer.
Reason 2: He has no leadership
Ben Simmons has been the second piece for his entire career, something that isn’t good for a point guard. A point guard needs to be a leader, to have lead a team at some point in their careers to be considered All Star to All-NBA. Even the point guards who have not lead a team have some leadership skills. Not Ben Simmons. He is a relaxed, laid back and reserved person who lets others take the lead. The point guard has to be leading guys up the court, doing the hand gestures to position his teammates, but you never see Ben Simmons doing that. It is acceptable at a forward and big man position, but the point guard has to have leadership
Reason 3: He performed much better as a big man
He performed much better as a big man. Simmons averaged about 25 points per game in college, and when translated to the NBA, and with his skillset, could be about 20 points per game, a career high. Not convinced? He also averaged 12 rebounds, and with his stealing ability, could be a real menace as a big man.
Ben Simmons was never supposed to be a Point Guard. I hope, rather, know that my argument has convinced you. This could be a reason for the disappointment. I’m Jim James, and I’ll see you next time, when we compare the all time squads of Montverde vs Oak Hill High Schools.