Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons’ 3 point shot won’t save the season

Maybe Ben Simmons’ outside shot isn’t that important for the Philadelphia 76ers after all.

I have a very unpopular opinion about the Philadelphia 76ers.

Sharing it won’t get me more twitter followers, any pats on the back, or even shield me from the impending hate mail certainly coming my way – if anything it will spurn more on – but for the sake of journalism, I feel the need to share it if for no other reason than to delve into it further: Ben Simmons shooting 3s really doesn’t matter.

I know, I know, ‘we’ve collectively waiting months, years even, for Simmons to park it in the corner, wait his turn, and jack up a wide-open 3 and now that he’s finally doing so with gusto it all of a sudden doesn’t matter? What gives?’

More from Section 215

• 4 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster Spots
• Best Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket
• 3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn Siposs
• Cowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak Prescott
• Devon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on Eagles

Please, allow me to elaborate.

So, let’s assume Simmons continues to take a pair of 3 pointers a game like he did in the Sixers’ debut summer scrimmage against the Memphis Grizzlies. At best that’s what, six potential points per game he’s adding to the scoreboard if he knocks them down at a 100 percent clip.

Spoiler alert, Simmons won’t hit 100 percent of his 3 point shots even if he’s wide open every. single. time.

Heck, even if Simmons just hits 40 percent of his outside shots, a clip that would still rank second on the team ahead of ‘shooters’ like Furkan Korkmaz, Tobias Harris, and Josh Richardson, we’re talking about .8 made 3s a game.

.8 isn’t even 1, just FYI.

Now again, I get that in the NBA games can oftentimes be decided by six or fewer points, as 25 of the Sixers’ 65 games so far during the 2019-20 season have been decided within that margin, but it’s not like Simmons taking 3s is going to limit his total attempts. Wouldn’t you rather the 6-foot-10 speedster kick the ball inside and drive it to the basket overtaking a lower percentage shot on the outside to fill some quota? Simmons has an advanced basketball mind and isn’t going to hesitate to put himself in the best position to succeed.

Even if he’s willing to take an outside shot if need be, Simmons hasn’t transformed into a completely different player overnight. He’s still going to drive the basket, even if a jump shot would be more appropriate, and may even prioritize playmaking over shot-fishing depending on personnel.

With that being said, Simmons’ new offensive acumen does have the potential to vastly overhaul the Philadelphia 76ers’ offense in a variety of different ways, just not in the way most expect.

You see, by kicking inside to play power forward, Simmons is allowing Brett Brown to insert Shake Milton into his starting five. Milton, as you know, is a very good outside shooter, a deceptively good passer, and big enough to maintain optionality in the defensive switching game. The decision to kick Al Horford to the second unit for Shake alone will give the 76ers offense some additional firepower, improved ball movement, and an athletic kick in the pants when it comes to pace.

Through the first segment of the 2019-20 NBA season, the 76ers ranked 19th in pace, which, funny enough, is below average.

So really, making Simmons a power forward really is more about adding Milton and subtracting Horford than it is about calling a two-time All Star by a different name, but that doesn’t mean Simmons’ new role won’t also make him a more effective all-around player. No, if Simmons can fully embrace playing off-ball at least some of the time, it could make the 76ers all the more impossible to account for.

Why? Because there isn’t a more athletic screener in the world than a fully engaged Ben Simmons.

I’m taking on-ball screens, off-ball screens, posts ups. Simmons’ ability to effortlessly cut through traffic and disrupt an opposing team’s defensive rotation as a ball-handler could free up oh so many open looks for the Sixers’ motley collection of shooters all the while giving the team a big-bodied lob target roaming the paint for an open look.

For everything Simmons does well, he has never really excelled in the pick and roll because of his lack of a reliable jump shot, but when tasking with playing the roll man, um, role, the uber-athletic big man’s impact on the give-and-go game could be indescribable. Simmons is easily the fastest forward in the NBA and bigger than every single guard. No matter who an opposing team opts to cover him in a pick and roll, there will always be a mismatch.

My goodness, a Milton-Simmons 1-4 pick and roll could account for 15, 20, 30 points a game if used correctly.

Factor in more looks under the basket to up rebounds and it’s entirely possible Simmons could become an even more frequent triple-double contender as a forward than he ever was as a guard, which is a pretty scary thought considering he already ranks second in 76ers history despite having only appeared in 214 games as a pro.

One of the more underrated looks in recent Sixers’ memory was Coach Brown’s unconventional decision to pair up T.J. McConnell and Ben Simmons for a handful of minutes a game in 2018-19. That look, which only accounted for 549 minutes over the entire season, gave fans a glimpse at Simmons’ potential as a play finisher, not just a playmaker, even if McConnell was a poor-fitting backcourt foil. Milton, by contrast, is a pretty great fit next to Simmons, so much so that Brown is effectively betting his career on the two meshing moving forward.

For the longest time, fans of the Philadelphia 76ers were absolutely desperate to see their team’s second star even attempt to jack up a jump shot, but by completely switching positions from a lead guard to a power forward that need for improved spacing has been rectified by the insertion of Shake Milton into the starting five. But now? Well, while a Ben Simmons three will continue to be one of the single most exhilarating shots a Sixer can attempt based on shock value alone, it will slowly start to feel like a baby’s first swear word; an unnatural act that rapidly loses its novelty.