Ben Simmons Is A Perfect Compliment to Jahlil Okafor

The Philadelphia 76ers are searching for shooters to surround Ben Simmons, but have they overlooked the best shooter on the team, post specialist Jahlil Okafor?

I’ve been hearing the trade rumors since the night of the 2015 NBA Draft. From the moment the Philadelphia 76ers had selected Duke center Jahlil Okafor, there has been a constant whisper which has grown in volume, a whisper of his imminent trade.

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Before the 2016 NBA Draft, I bought into the rumors, and even wrote some articles about their likelihood of coming to fruition.  But deep down inside, I thought there had to be another way.   I countered the arguments TO trade Jahlil Okafor with some very contrarian logic:  the team should consider building the team around the skillsets of Jahlil Okafor.  That logic resonated with some readers, but left some anxious that I hadn’t allotted a roster spot for Joel Embiid.

Perhaps not, but despite Embiid’s recent return to health, the projection for his play to open the season is minutes restrictions and alternating games.  Someone has to fill the void in his absence.

Taking it one step further, I even threw Embiid and Dario Saric into the mix, and speculated that the team could conceivably have a starting lineup of current players.  If the team holds onto Jahlil Okafor for center, then you move Joel Embiid out to power forward. Saric slides in at the small forward spot and if you start a rapidly improving Robert Covington at shooting guard, you plop Ben Simmons into the point guard role. No trades, no huge salary cap outlays, three rookies, a sophomore, and a two year veteran.

The fascination with this lineup, a “tall ball” lineup, was simply talking aloud. Or so I thought.

Next: A Tall Order

A Tall Order

Tall Ball began conceptually as a way to fit the abundance of big talent onto the starting lineup simultaneously.  But now, I’m not so sure it’s not the definitive way to go.  Head coach Brett Brown is already starting to think like I do:

The team already knows that center Jahlil Okafor can play superb offense when he sits at or near the post.  As the team migrates the passing specialist Ben Simmons into a point guard role, that opens up the front court to an additional big.

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Center Jahlil Okafor has been afflicted with an incredible amount of analysis about why he doesn’t fit the Philadelphia 76ers scheme.  Some just echo a statement of what they had just read earlier, but some comments were incredibly loaded with valuable insights and persuasive arguments.  Jahlil Okafor is a back to the hoop center, and that era is extinct in the NBA some said.  Jahlil Okafor did not generate enough rebounds for his size and strength, others said.  Still others site Jahlil Okafor’s substandard advanced metrics, and conclude his ceiling is limited.

But the facts are these:  center Jahlil Okafor entered the NBA at 19, played just 53 NBA games his rookie season, had a true starting point guard (PG Ish Smith)  for just 26 games , and of those 26 games, he was asked to play power forward for approximately six of those games.  20 games with a starting point guard and that defines his upside?

I think there’s room to send the jury back to deliberate on this young man’s career.  But while we do that, we need to settle on a complimentary power forward to Okafor’s center play.

Next: Power Play

Power play

I see Joel Embiid sliding in at power forward.    Why?  We already know that Joel Embiid is incredibly athletic, and that he is now rumored to be healthy as well.   If the team had to convert one of their three bigs, Joel Embiid is the logical choice.

When the Houston Rockets had a similar dilemma with the arrival of Hakeem Olajuwon to a team already centered by Ralph Sampson, Sampson voluntarily sacrificed his natural position to play power forward.  The results were spectacular.  It worked because Ralph Sampson was an incredibly gifted athlete, and his style would give the team the opportunity to boast both big men on the court.

Joel Embiid is that same type of special athlete, whirl, juke, and challenge the forward position and  allow him to roam and make decisions on the fly.  Joel Embiid can play the post, but he is an incredible athlete and can absorb a larger role for the team.

A second reason to place Joel Embiid at the four is to minimize the banging wear and tear on his returning-to-health body.  Okafor is a shifty, great moves center who eludes much of the worst banging bodies near the hoop. Embiid, if practices or college videos mean anything, is athletic enough to stick with faster players, and use that condor-like wingspan to slap the ball away or clog passing lanes.

But Embiid on the court with Okafor gives the Simmons “pass-a-matic phenomenon” very dangerous outlets for his passes, passes that are on target and give the open shooter incredibly clean looks at the basket.

Next: Let the Simshine in

Let the Simshine In

In two games of the 2016 NBA Summer League, Ben Simmons made a commanding statement about what he will bring to the team.  No, he won’t score 40 points on average.  But his passes are so crisp and on target that his teammates might.

Hoops Habit

Center Richaun Holmes averaged 15.0 points per game, and teammate power forward Christian Wood averaged 18.7 points per game.  While both players no doubt contributed to their production by training vigorously this off-season, they were helped immensely by the presence of Ben Simmons, whose 5.5 assists per game led the Utah summer league.  That number could have ended much higher, but some spot-on passes simply ended up in the hands of a player who did not make the basket.

Now place Ben Simmons on the roster with Jahlil Okafor for 82 games.  What do you think can happen to the team as a result?  Well, with little help from teammates, Okafor was able to generate his own scoring opportunities with double and sometimes triple teaming in the post.  With Ben Simmons, that won’t happen.

Simmons has a knack for finding the open player.  Scoff if you choose to believe that an open Robert Covington on a catch and shoot will not score 40 percent or better from the perimeter, but look at the results of Holmes and Wood so far.  Holmes was a 5.6 points per game scorer last season, Wood was 3.6 points per game.  Does summer league exaggerate the impact?  Of course.  But Jahlil Okafor was already sinking baskets with no help.

A post game with Simmons feeding Okafor catch and shoots at the post will be an incredible upgrade and boost to Jah’s already impressive offensive display.

Next: Beating the Odds

Beating the Odds

Former 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie accepted the probability of failure, respected it, and even embraced it.  Many  interpreted his efforts incorrectly in the concept of the moment, the “now” aspect.  Sam Hinkie was never about the now.

He accurately described himself as the man with the future looking responsibility.  We know that as he prepared for the 2015 NBA Draft, he learned that Joel Embiid would need a second surgery on his foot, and that a second year of rehabilitation would likely be needed.

Knowing that, he selected center Jahlil Okafor in that draft.

Air Alamo

But compare that strategy to that of the NBA Draft?  Sam Hinkie was never content to rely on the odds of a single draft pick, wherever and whenever possible, he tried to reinforce the odds of success by gaining the rights to swap draft picks with that of another team.

So too, he was faced with a situation he could not control.  He faced a chance that center Joel Embiid would be unable to recover from surgery and wanted to ensure that the team would have a solid offensive option as a fall back position.

But Hinkie knew more basketball than many critics gave him credit for.  He began his NBA days at Houston, and understood full well the history of Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon.  He also understood enough about Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid’s games to understand that, if both proved to be healthy, they could be a compatible pairing on the basketball court.

He had no way of anticipating the arrival of Ben Simmons in the 2016 NBA Draft, but he already has a similar skill-set player waiting in the wings in Dario Saric.

Next: A First Noel

A First Noel

So what of center Nerlens Noel? Nerlens Noel is the second insurance policy, but another solid center in a Ben Simmons centered lineup.  Noel is a catch and shoot center, the alley-oop guy who can defend the rim and contribute some offense.

South Bound & Down

In a lineup with Okafor as a starting center, Noel would be the first player off the bench. Will Noel be able to deliver in that situation?  He’s already shown he can hold his own defensively in the NBA. His Achilles heel has been his offense.  Noel requires schemed plays. He is not a make-his-own-shot scorer.  He needs the defense to thin out, and the pass to be placed “just so”.

We know that the team had few options to score last year.  We also know that Brown admitted not having enough time to train Okafor and Noel to “gel” together.  In fact, in the midst of roster mayhem, trying to find an equilibrium between Okafor and Noel, Brown admitted he kept the playbook at virtually a kindergarten level.

While Noel was the center with the most seniority, he elected to slide out to the power forward to make room for the expected arrival of Joel Embiid last season. When Embiid declared a second foot surgery, and the team selected Jahlil Okafor in the NBA draft, it was a surprise to all, including Noel.  That surprise derailed the plans for the offseason, which in turn complicated the preparation of the team.

The team suffered injury, and got to a point where Brown could only stitch a lineup together as best as he could and send them onto the court to get their shellacking.

After one particularly severe preseason beatdown, Brett Brown could only offer this explanation:

"“It was a game where I just sat back and let players play,” Brown said. “When you have just 11 players and people were on minute restrictions, you just tried to walk that game down with healthy bodies.”"

The plan was to work closely with Noel and Okafor in preseason to reinforce their separate roles.  The plan required a healthy team, a team with a roster of healthy starters.  If you recall, that is not the way last year’s season began.

With Joel Embiid already out for the season, the team entered the new year with few healthy bodies.  That shortage of healthy bodies would haunt the Sixers into the season.  It was that which distracted Brown from teaching Noel and Okafor how to mesh on the court effectively.

Next: Red Shirt Season

Red Shirt Season

With few healthy bodies, Brown had to MacGyver a starting lineup from the healthy bodies available.  Brown explained last season as he prepared for his season opener:

"“It’s like the difference between men and boys. When he (Okafor) goes and beasts college basketball, it’s not going to happen [in the NBA] right away. We all have to be patient with that. I think it’s going to be slow for a lot of us. [Okafor is] going to walk into the Boston Garden and it’s not like he’s negligent on playing in big games. He’s played in plenty of big games, but now it feels like the true NBA. The preseason is not even close to the regular season and it’s nothing like the playoffs, so it goes up several more layers starting [Wednesday] night and I think we have to be patient. It’s never letting go of the mentality of run to the spot that you want to post. There is no worse feeling in coaching than having to call a play each time down the floor. I don’t like coaching like that and I don’t think the game is played like that. So I think he can make up his own play. He can run to the block and get the ball. It doesn’t require me. That’s what I’m on him to do and if we keep coaching that, he’s going to get his free throws. He’ll get deeper catches and more free-throw catches. Energy-wise we’ll play with tremendous spirit and heart. We’ll play defense, but we’ll be ratty offensively. We need to play in the open court and we need to get Jahlil the ball, but I’m not expecting anything fluid or anything with a tremendous rhythm on offense.” – Head coach Brett Brown."

With too many injured bodies, too many projected bench players forced into starting roles, the team stitched together a lineup, set some basic plays to execute, and hoped for the best.  That best never seemed to arrive.

Looking back now and judging the performance of that roster seems cruel and unjust.  The team limped into the season, limped out of the season, and had about a two month window of normalcy.

Next: Play Your Strong Suit

Play Your Strong Suit

We have all speculated to some length about the intentions of the team this season.  Even Brett Brown admitted that he would be surprised if the team began the season with all three centers on the roster.

But the same Brett Brown also revealed his governing philosophy a year ago:

"“I think it is relevant,” Brown said of the NBA’s preference for small ball. “But trends don’t necessarily mean that’s the correct path with respective teams. The path that Golden State went on catered to their strengths first. For me it always gets down to, how do you get your best players on the court? The trend we’re talking about with small ball is true, but I don’t see it being the answer, that it’s the only way.”"

Right now, getting the best players on the court became much simpler with the addition of Ben Simmons.  Those players are Simmons, Embiid, Okafor, Saric, and Covington.  That just so happens to be the tall ball lineup we’ve anticipated.

The team has added enough veterans to patch the team together until the young players on the roster earn starting minutes as they improve and develop throughout the season.  In fact, the Philadelphia 76ers bench appears to be rather robust when you consider it will likely have Nerlens Noel, Richaun Holmes, Jerami Grant, Nik Stauskas, and T.J. McConnell.   Now layer in the veterans of Carly Landry, Jerryd Bayless, Sergio Rodriguez, and Gerald Henderson and this feels like a solid group.

Next: Philadelphia 76ers Test Grant And Stauskas On Vegas Roster

There may have been logic to fielding trade options to Jahlil Okafor earlier in the year, but I’m beginning to question that logic now.  Ben Simmons is demonstrating that he can feed a player sitting in the post even in traffic.  All he needs is a player to score when the ball arrives.  Jahlil Okafor has demonstrated he can score when he sits in the post.  All he needed is a player to feed him the ball.

I think this has a chance of working.  I hope the Philadelphia 76ers give it a chance to find out.