What Should the Sixers do with Ben Simmons?
The Philadelphia Sixers’ latest playoff defeat is going to sting for a long time. The Sixers blew game 1, lost a pivotal game 5 where they blew a 26 point lead, fought back to win game 6 only to wilt in front of their home crowd in game 7.
There are questions about their hiring of Doc Rivers, a coach who’s sadly becoming known for overseeing epic playoff collapses and disappointments, as well as their inability to close the deal on a James Harden trade (Tilman Fertitta was never going to help Daryl Morey win a title). But much of that is secondary to the biggest question in the NBA right now: what can the Sixers do about former #1 pick Ben Simmons?
THE CASE FOR TRADING BEN SIMMONS
If you want to know why the Sixers need to end the Ben Simmons experiment, just look at his 4th quarter scoring the last 4 games.
Look at his lack of field goal attempts and aggressiveness despite a worn-down Joel Embiid. Look at the possession early in the 4th where Simmons appeared to have an easy dunk but laid off a pass for Matthias Thybulle, who was fouled and subsequently made 1-2 free throws.
Joel Embiid called the play a turning point in his postgame presser. Head Coach Doc Rivers, who has gone out of his way to defend Simmons a few times since taking the job, could not express confidence in the guard being part of a championship team going forward.
The entire fanbase is over Simmons’s continued disappearing act. His development has stalled and despite his obvious talents, he’s just not good enough when it matters to get this team over the hump.
Other young guards like Devin Booker, Trae Young, Luka Doncic, Jamaal Murray, and Donovan Mitchell have figured out how to take over games and will their teams to victory. Even players like Ja Morant, who also struggles with his jumper, knows to keep attacking the rim and put pressure on opposing defenses. Simmons though? Simply isn’t wired the same way.
Where those guys look to score when their team needs a bucket, Simmons is not even involved in plays down the stretch. He does not attack the rim despite having a size and/or speed advantage against most opposing defenders. Simmons is just a couple of inches shorter than Giannis with better handles but has a completely different mindset about how to play the game.
So while the former 2 time MVP will put up 40 in a must-win game 7 on the road, Simmons passes up dunks and finishes with just as many fouls as he does field goal attempts.
Ben’s passivity was not as much of an issue earlier in his career when he was on a rookie deal and still figuring things out. We are now in year 4 and Simmons is making max contract money without max contract output.
This created tension for Andrew Wiggins in Minnesota and it’s going to be a problem for the Sixers with their rabid fanbase and high expectations. If you cannot trust Simmons, the Sixers’ best perimeter player, to help your team in crunch time, he simply has to go, no matter the cost.
THE CASE FOR KEEPING BEN SIMMONS
With all of that said, Simmons is still a 24-year-old All-Star and All-NBA Defender. He is a swiss army knife that can do everything except shoot outside of the paint. He is one of the best passers in the league and is one of the rare players that makes his teammates better by being on the floor (17th in the league in real plus/minus, higher than Chris Paul, Julius Randle, Kyrie Irving, and Jimmy Butler).
These points were the bulk of the case for keeping Simmons around for much of his career. After last night, however, the Sixers may just have to bring Simmons back because his value has plummeted.
All of the reasons that the Sixers should move on from Simmons are also why they cannot really trade him. Everyone in the league just watched Ben get exposed again in crunch time of a big playoff game. There’s no denying his talent, but if he does not want to use his gifts when it matters most, just how valuable is he?
A better question: what team is looking at Simmons’s playoff performances these last 4 games and thinking that they should give up anything of value for him? Who in their right mind wants to have Simmons hold one of their max salary slots even though he cannot be trusted down the stretch? We saw how difficult it was for the Pistons to move double-double machine Andre Drummond this year before they waived him; is Simmons any different?
There is no way that a Simmons trade would yield a return as good as Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal. The Hornets' Mitch Kupchak would facetime Daryl Morey just to laugh in his face if he offered Simmons for Gordon Hayward. Tilman Fertitta does not want Morey to succeed in Philly so he probably wouldn’t want to trade John Wall for Simmons even though Wall is 8 years older and injury-prone.
Now you’re looking at guys like CJ McCollum, Kevin Love, Kemba Walker, and maybe Buddy Hield as your best trade possibilities. Given what Simmons can do as a defender and general playmaker, are any of those moves truly elevating the Sixers? I have my doubts.
The Sixers and Simmons need to do the hard work this summer of changing his approach to the game. Part of that is simply building up Ben’s confidence. Too much is made of Ben’s reluctance to shoot from outside where the problem is really his disinclination to shoot at all. They need to find ways to get him going offensively so that he’s more than just a good passer or off-ball screener. It’s not easy to flip a switch and become more assertive overnight, but they’ve at least got to start taking steps in that direction to raise both Simmons’s ceiling as well as the team’s.
The only thing truly stopping Ben Simmons from being as good as we all know he can be is Ben Simmons. Once he figures that out, the Sixers will truly be a contender for a title. Nobody wants to hear it, but Simmons will probably be back in Philadelphia when the 2021-2022 season tips off. Fans can only hope that they get one who is mentally prepared to go above and beyond to get the Sixers to the conference finals and beyond.