Who Will be More Impactful on Offense: Simmons or Embiid?

The Philadelphia 76ers have two big-name players debuting as rookies this season in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Who will impact more on offense?

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are both huge pieces of the puzzle for the Philadelphia 76ers. As the team looks to come out of the chasm that was their 10 win season of 2016, these two players — both of which were called locks for the No. 1 overall pick at one point in their late collegiate careers — will be watched heavily by Sixers fans and NBA fans alike.

Both of them are expected to take the Sixers to new highs, especially compared to their past three seasons. Both of them have offensive tools that make them great.

Embiid is a monster in the key. Give him the ball in a post-up situation, and he will find a way to get himself to the rim. On top of that, he can, at times, hit a shot with some range on it.

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Simmons is an elite passer, and also has a great ability to get to the rim.

Without a doubt, both players will be huge on offense for the Sixers. But who will be better? It may not matter a whole lot to Sixers fans, as long as both of them are putting up decent contributions, but it’s still important to evaluate.

Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid was a decent offensive player in college at Kansas. There, he averaged 11.2 points per game. In the key, Embiid was a scary player to try and defend. No matter how many bodies you put on him, or how many hands you put in his face, he still managed to find a way to get to the rim.

Embiid slithered around defenders, powered through defenders, muscled his way closer to the rim, and all around just found ways to get the ball to the hoop.

Since coming into the NBA, Embiid hasn’t been able to see a single second of NBA basketball, but that actually may have helped him make his offensive game better. A main focus of the Sixers coaching staff throughout Embiid’s rehabilitation has been on his offense, not his defense.

The staff has been working to get his mechanics and muscle memory down. They’ve worked with him in the key, away from the key, and even from the 3-point line. He comes into his “rookie” season with much more knowledge and many more tools on the offensive side of the floor than he did when he came out of college.

Ben Simmons

Ben Simmons will not have the same path as Embiid, thankfully. He will debut in his rookie season,  and comes in after being a leader on the offensive side of the ball for LSU in his sole season. Simmons does several things on the offensive side of the ball well.

Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. Those are some great per-game numbers, and during training camp, Simmons gave us a little bit of a taste of what the NBA version of Simmons will be like.

Simmons, during training camp, put on a show with the way he can put the basketball seemingly anywhere on the floor. Simmons is able to set teammates up with perfectly placed passes, setting them up easy for points — as long as they can make their shots.

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At the same time, Simmons has the ability to get himself to the basket and score. He has a decent physique on him, and keeps putting more and more muscle on him. At the same time, he has good handles, which means it’s pretty easy for Simmons to get himself from the perimeter to the rim, even with good defense in front of him.

The major flaw of Simmons’ offensive game is that he isn’t a great shooter. He can’t really hit jump shots from too far out on the floor, but that will come. Simmons is working on all areas of his game, and for now he has enough tools for us to ignore the fact that Simmons isn’t a great shooter.

Who will be more impactful?

This is a complicated question, and ultimately, the answer is good for Sixers fans in either case. The best case scenario is that both players have a decent impact on the team and their trek to score more points.

Joel Embiid may be more dominant and have more tricks and whistles to score, but Ben Simmons will prove to be the more impactful player. He is looked at as the focal point of the offense, the new leader of the team, and he is expected to be good not only in getting his own points, but also setting up his teammates.

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Embiid will still certainly score, but many of his points will still involve Simmons as the passer who set those scores up. It’s tough to envision an offensive system that isn’t Simmons-heavy, so it’s easy to say he will have more impact.