The Sixer Sense
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Will Ben Simmons Become Second Championship Piece?

By Bret Stuter

Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and forward Nerlens Noel (M) and forward Ben Simmons (R) during a timeout in the second half against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and forward Nerlens Noel (M) and forward Ben Simmons (R) during a timeout in the second half against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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With Philadelphia 76ers top draft pick Ben Simmons arriving soon, will he prove to be second championship piece?

Perhaps it was for the best that Ben Simmons injured his foot in the pre-season. That injury allowed the Philadelphia 76ers to discover the potential of teammate Joel Embiid, as well as work on Simmons’ shooting. But will it work?

Joel Embiid thinks it will.

And so, the slow-paced assembly that has taken the team four years to get to this point, is happening far more rapidly now. With Embiid clearly an NBA force to be reckoned with, the Philadelphia 76ers have gotten past the first step of finding a star.

HICCUP

But the path to a championship runs into a hiccup in finding a second piece.  Once an elite player is discovered, wins happen. Those same wins bury the team in the middle tier of the next NBA Draft. In short, the system makes it that much more difficult to find a second piece.

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The only way to overcome that penalty is to find the first piece, and have that player sit out a season in rehab for a year (or two). Then, that same team can draft in the top three in the following draft.

Can Ben Simmons become the second championship piece for the team?