T.J. McConnell Benefits From Ben Simmons Injury

The Ben Simmons injury news was a crushing blow for the Philadelphia 76ers. Their main attraction and No. one overall pick will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. T.J. McConnell will benefit from that.

Ben Simmons is out indefinitely after his recent (successful) surgery. The main question now is how will the Philadelphia 76ers run their offense and through whom? Head coach Brett Brown was not shy about saying that he planned to put the ball in Simmons’ hands as the floor general. It is no question that other guys will have to take on a much bigger role with Simmons out, but who does it benefit most?

Prior to the Simmons injury news, T.J. McConnell was on the roster bubble. With Jerryd Bayless as the favorite to start at point guard this season, minutes would be hard to come by for McConnell, Sergio Rodriguez and perhaps Anthony Barber. One of the reasons Bayless is a better fit with Simmons is because he’s primarily a shooter and can work off Simmons without the ball in his hands. If you ask him to run an offense though, he will prove why he has bounced around the league for the past decade.

With no Ben Simmons, the Sixers need a primary ball handler and somebody who can run the offense. That is exactly what T.J. McConnell excels at. He is a pass-first point guard who creates opportunities for those around him. More importantly, he is a floor general who is very comfortable running the offense.

I have already talked about what McConnell did last season and why he is an important asset to the Sixers franchise in previous articles so I will refrain from doing so here. That being said, McConnell continued to impress this off-season in training camp and already through the first two games of the preseason.

For the Sixers preseason opener against Boston on Tuesday night, McConnell led the team in minutes and finished with a very solid performance of 13 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals. He started again last night against the Wizards and logged 35 minutes in a double overtime loss where he finished with 12 points, seven assists, one rebound and two steals.

Through the first two games of the preseason, he is now averaging 12.5 points per game, 2.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and two steals. He is shooting just under 50 percent from the field and 100 percent from the charity stripe which was one of his biggest issues last season. He does have eight turnovers through those two games as well, and will clearly need to cut those down if he wants to remain on the court.

Next: Ben Simmons Recovery Time

Without Simmons, McConnell becomes irreplaceable for the Sixers. He is a leader and floor general and runs the offense well. You cannot say that about the other point guards on the roster at this point in time. McConnell continues to impress with his play during the preseason and should be given plenty of opportunities to prove his worth during the regular season as well. Jerryd Bayless’ wrist injury may be more serious than the franchise originally led on and if so, McConnell’s opportunity may come sooner rather than later.