Sixers: With Tobias Harris out, watch forward Ben Simmons very closely

When news broke that Tobias Harris had to undergo an MRI after the Sixers‘ 111-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks, it showcased just how close the team’s current top-heavy rotation is to disaster at any given moment.

Thankfully, Harris suffered no structural damage and will likely return to the court sooner rather than later but still, the very fact that the Sixers could watch their slightly above average offense suddenly tank down to the doldrums of efficiency alongside the Cavs and Timberwolves of the world over a simple bump of the knee if a scary proposition.

Even if Harris is cleared to return to on-court activities following his Sunday reevaluation, the idea that the Sixers could suddenly have to pivot on the fly to a lineup featuring Furkan Korkmaz in the starting five long-term with no notice should give pause to even the most optimistic of fans or Furkie Stans.

But, in a silver lining of an otherwise crappy situation, Harris’ absence should give fans an extended look at frontcourt Ben Simmons, which could ultimately become a fixture of Doc Rivers’ rotation should the team pull off everyone’s favorite franchise-altering hypothetical trade for Kyle Lowry – or really, any other on-ball point guard for that matter.

Could the Sixers have something in small forward Ben Simmons? We will see.

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There are two major issues with the idea of trading some combination of picks, young players, and cap filler to the Toronto Raptors for Kyle Lowry: How will the Sixers replace their high-usage starting five and how would Ben Simmons co-exist with another ball-dominant point guard?

While Simmons has played alongside other point guards over his first four professional seasons, it’s always been for shorter bursts between long stretches as the team’s primary ball handler. While these minutes have been encouraging, with Simmons largely playing power forward or even center, the best way to deploy the 6-foot-10 unicorn has remained in the backcourt, where he dribbles the ball up the court, facilitates the offense, and then locks down opposing players at the top of the key.

Even if Simmons can defend opposing power forwards and even some of the less physically-opposing centers in the league like Rudy Gobert, he’s really better suited to defend opposing wing scorers where he has the length to contest the shots of smaller players, and the speed to keep with even the best forward scorer.

Therein lies the problem with simply playing Ben Simmons at power forward: He just brings too much value around the arc as both a facilitator and a defender to be simply relegated to the dunker spot.

But there is a solution to this issue that’s incredibly obvious but also mildly controversial.

Drum roll……. play Ben at small forward.

I know, crazy, right? If Harris is a noticeable power forward rather than small forward, Lowry can really only play point guard when paired up with another diminutive backcourt-mate in Seth Curry, and the Sixers suddenly have an opening at small forward with Danny Green back in Toronto, er, Tampa, why not just plug in Simmons at the three spot and let him cook?

In theory, the idea isn’t as radical as one may initially assume. Lowry is used to playing alongside another ball-dominant guard in Fred VanVleet since his long-time best backcourt buddy DeMar DeRozan was shipped to the Spurs in a package for Kawhi Leonard, and would surely be happy to allow Simmons to remain the Sixers’ primary starting ball handler. Simmons would then be able to remain one of the most lethal transition scorers in the league and still get an opportunity to defend multiple positions depending on the matchup.

Granted, Simmons would likely need to guard more forwards when the Sixers are starting a backcourt with an average height of 6-foot-1 but hey, when Rivers rotates in bigger options like Matisse Thybulle and Shake Milton, that size deficiency becomes decidedly less impactful.

As the modern-day NBA becomes more positionless, even when it comes to All-Star voting, the idea of having a small forward who operates like a point guard really isn’t that controversial. Heck, LeBron James has been doing it for years and will likely continue to do so at a near-MVP level for the foreseeable future.

Assuming these next few games go well with Simmons playing alongside three other wings, it might be just what the doctor ordered to engineer a trade for a starting-caliber guard to fortify the starting five.

Next. Sixers poll: Fans generally support a trade for Kyle Lowry. dark

In the grand scheme of things, no single regular season game matters all that much in the NBA. Even the best wins fade into memory relatively quickly and the toughest losses do the same, even if they take a little longer to fully get over. With that being said, some contests give fans, coaches, and the rest of the league an opportunity to take an extended look at a particular lineup and could be impactful for how a team decides to operate moving forward. With Tobias Harris out for a few games and only one other true power forward on the roster in Mike Scott to take his place in the starting lineup, watching Ben Simmons play alongside three wings will only help the Sixers in the long-term.