Ben Simmons’ Instagram post displays his new and improved jump shot

Knocking down jump shots has always been one of Ben Simmons‘ weaknesses, but according to his newest post on Instagram, the Philadelphia 76ers rookie has seemingly improved immensely.

For as long as Ben Simmons has been playing competitive basketball, he has always shined bright in almost every aspect of the game.  He is a fantastic playmaker, strong rebounder, superb ball handler for his height, and skilled finisher at the rim.

Philadelphia 76ers

The one area of the game of basketball that has plagued him throughout his career is jump shooting.  In high school, using a three point line that is a full four feet shorter than the NBA line, Simmons only shot 29 percent from downtown.  At LSU Simmons only attempted three shots from beyond the arc, making one of them.

Whether it was because of a lack of confidence or lack of talent, Simmons’ jump shot has always been a huge question mark.  Going into the 2016 NBA draft, scouts questioned whether he would ever be able to develop a trustworthy jump shot capable of keeping defenses honest.

After being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, he participated in the NBA Summer League, where he once again struggled shooting jump shots.  He looked unwilling to take open jumpers when the defenses backed off, and would sometimes force drives to the basket instead.

All of these red flags have caused many people around the NBA to question just how good Ben Simmons can become.  With the direction that the league is headed, focusing on three pointers more than ever, players that can’t stretch the floor have struggled to get acclimated to the league.

As a way to calm down nervous 76ers fans, at least in the short term, Ben Simmons posted a video to his Instagram account displaying his newfound ability to shoot the deep ball.

In the video, shown above, Simmons makes nine straight 3-point shots from the NBA line.  Not just nine total threes.  Nine in a row.

With summer league hype dying down after the injury suffered by Markelle Fultz and free agency drama coming to a halt after signing J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson, 76ers fans were in need of something to focus their attention to.  A post to social media showing a player working on his game would not usually stir up this kind of attention, but in the middle of July the amount of new storylines are beginning to dwindle, so for a brief moment lets overanalyze some practice tape.

If Ben Simmons truly has been working on his jump shot and developing it, just how well should the fans expect him to shoot it from behind the arc? Realistically, still not very well.

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The average NBA player shoots 35.8 percent from three.  The worst three point shooter in the league last year, of those who qualified, was Marcus Smart, who shot 28.3 percent.  Simmons’ teammate Dario Saric was also among the ten worst three point shooters in the league last season, as he shot 31.1 percent.

Both of those players have shown the ability to stretch the floor during stretches of games, but consistency was the biggest issue for them.  Consistency is going to be the biggest question mark surrounding Simmons, and in the run of play he still has yet to show any of it.

If Simmons can manage to shoot 30 percent or above from three point range, that would be a great first step towards developing a serviceable jump shot in the future.  Even the best rookies seem to struggle shooting the ball in their first seasons, so a player like Simmons that already has concerns about his shot will be no exception.

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For now, the post on Instagram that sparked this entire discussion will have to be enough to hold the fans over until the season, but it certainly is enough to create some excitement.