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Ben Simmons’ future with the Philadelphia 76ers likely depends on their mutual success in Game 7.
If Simmons had performed to the level his resume might suggest — three consecutive All-Star picks, two consecutive All-Defensive nods for the first team and an All-NBA team display for the third team last season — the Sixers wouldn’t be in such a mess, facing a match Others win or go home against an inferior team in the second round.
There is no formulation of this fact.
His defense is not the problem. That’s a weapon Philadelphia fired at Atlanta star Trae Young with some accuracy, save for the five fouls that put Simmons at 25 minutes in Friday’s must-win sixth game. At least one more outing.
Simmons was offensively unplayable on Friday, in large part because the Hawks used a Hack-a-Ben strategy that worked somewhat in their 26-point victory in Game Five. In the match, Sixers coach Doc Rivers played junior Therese Maxi on offensive property for Simmons, who hasn’t attempted a shot in the fourth quarter since Game Three.
That’s right: With their season on the line, the Sixers played a late rookie pick in the first round on an athletically talented 6-foot-11 guard and drafted #1 overall in 2016 and set aside $177 million through 2024.
This is not good.
Ben Simmons has all the tools except one. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Simmons is a very talented player. He should be celebrated for elite defense, which earned him a runner-up in Defensive Player of the Year position, and he’s great on the open floor. He was the second-best player on a team that won nearly 70% of their matches and entered the playoffs as the top seed in the East.
He also couldn’t be the second-best player on the championship team, at least not with the Sixers.
Simmons’ flaw is fatal to Philadelphia’s title hopes. Granted, those hopes were still hanging by a thread, but his inability to shoot left the Sixers struggling to complete their outing to the conference finals. He tried four shots outside the restricted area against the hawks, all in paint, and made one. He is now 24 to 71 from the free throw line in the playoffs. Its drawback is the retractable roof on its sky-high ceiling.
The story continues
“Definitely mental,” Simmons said earlier in his streak of disastrous free-throw struggles.
Not exactly what you want to hear from the cornerstone of the franchise, even if it’s painfully obvious. Simmons hasn’t shown any signs of sophistication in shooting at five feet, and the increased pressure of this constant narration could only make matters worse. It is what it is, and that’s a great player, not just for the Sixers that includes Joel Embiid, a well-meaning MVP candidate whose distances have been crushed by his representative.
Embiid may be the Shaquille O’Neal of his generation, but he needs Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade – someone who can go get a bucket when it matters – and Simmons isn’t. He is, essentially, an edge running center, often down to a baseline dunker, who can run a transition offense, create for others and defend all five positions. You can build around this guy, not next to Embiid.
Game 7’s win over the Hawks on Sunday and a debut for the franchise’s first Finals since 2001 — either against the Milwaukee Bucks with a similarly flawed superstar or the walking clinic the Brooklyn Nets — might be enough to convince Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia front desk this summer that tweaks the roster around Simmons and Embiid no It remains the solution as they enter their fifth season together.
The scenario in which the Embiid’s repaired meniscus still makes these Sixers at least a competitor. A win might also delay the inevitable for another series, barring a miraculous turnaround from now on.
The loss would almost certainly mean the end of Simmons’ tenure in Philadelphia, as long as they could extract anything close to equal value. The Sixers Simmons offered James Harden earlier this season, but was turned down. We can debate whether the Houston Rockets should take Simmons on a Brooklyn bunker, or whether Harden has helped Philadelphia move deeper this season, but we can say for sure now that Simmons no longer shares a caliber player conversation with you. Harden.
This is the harsh reality for a star who doesn’t set his team’s sights higher than getting out in the second round.
Teams will not claim a player that cannot be counted for the duration of the closing match. We’re talking about return packages that focus on all-marginal stars like Brandon Ingram, Gordon Hayward, CJ McCollum, or (perhaps best-case scenario) Zach LaVine, perhaps with another rotation player attached.
It might be a disappointing end to a period that held so much promise with the Sixers, but at least they can give themselves a shot with someone who has one to make clutch buckets. If Simmons had any chance of rewriting his Philadelphia novel, he would first have to write a win script in Game 7.
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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Do you have a tip? Email him to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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