The Philadelphia 76ers have been winning more than their fare share of games this season, and a major reason for that is the jaw-dropping performance of 6-foot-10 rookie point guard Ben Simmons
Philadelphia 76ers rookie point guard Ben Simmons has dominated the race for rookie-of-the-year so far, and should easily win the rookie-of-the-month award for October/November. He’s that good. In fact, he’s playing in the realm where an NBA seasoned vet would be downright giddy.
Ben Simmons averages 18.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. In 20 games, the 21-year-old has twelve double-doubles, two of which were triple-doubles. And as a six-foot-ten point guard, he is both an offensive and defensive nightmare.
Simmons peaks are high, and getting higher
In separate games, he scored highs of 31 points and 18 rebounds against the Washington Wizards, 12 assists against the Golden State Warriors, three blocks against the Utah Jazz and five steals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
To substantiate my claim to greatness, you’ll need proof, right? Well proof you will get. How about some stats? I pulled my stats from basketball-reference.com.
Related Story: Should Ben Simmons actually change his free throw hand?
Let’s compare Simmons to the rookie field.
PER 36-minute stats
Here are the final October/November PER 36-minute stats for thirteen rookies, arranged by minutes per game (with the top two stats in each category highlighted):
| Tem | Pos | G | GS | MP/G | TRB | AST | A/TO | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
| Ben Simmons | PHI | PG | 20 | 20 | 35.6 | 9.5 | 7.3 | 1.97 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 18.8 |
| Lonzo Ball | LAL | PG | 21 | 21 | 33.4 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 2.79 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 9.7 |
| Kyle Kuzma | LAL | PF | 20 | 11 | 31.3 | 7.0 | 1.8 | 0.82 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 19.2 |
| L. Markkanen | CHI | PF | 20 | 20 | 30.7 | 9.6 | 1.7 | 1.06 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 17.1 |
| Jayson Tatum | BOS | SF | 23 | 23 | 30.5 | 6.2 | 1.7 | 1.06 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 16.2 |
| Tem | Pos | G | GS | MP/G | TRB | AST | A/TO | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
| Dillon Brooks | MEM | SF | 20 | 12 | 29.7 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 0.79 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 4.2 | 10.5 |
| Don. Mitchell | UTA | SG | 22 | 14 | 28.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 1.46 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 19.2 |
| Dennis Smith | DAL | PG | 20 | 20 | 28.4 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 1.38 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 18.2 |
| De’Aaron Fox | SAC | PG | 21 | 8 | 26.3 | 4.2 | 6.0 | 2.00 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 14.0 |
| Tem | Pos | G | GS | MP/G | TRB | AST | A/TO | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
| John Collins | ATL | PF | 21 | 4 | 23.0 | 11.1 | 1.3 | 0.57 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 5.7 | 18.0 |
| Mike James | PHO | PG | 23 | 10 | 22.7 | 4.8 | 6.6 | 2.44 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 17.4 |
| Josh Jackson | PHO | SF | 23 | 4 | 21.5 | 6.3 | 1.8 | 0.55 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 15.5 |
| Malik Monk | CHO | SG | 18 | 0 | 17.5 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 2.11 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 15.5 |
One quarter down, and 2017-2018 has great rookie play so far
With one-quarter of the season completed, it is a crowded field of rookies that are vying for rookie-of-the-month. Although Ben only leads in one PER 36-minute stat (steals) his overall production is phenomenal. Here’s how he stacks up against the top rookies and overall in each category:
TRB, total rebounds: John Collins 11.1, Lauri Markkanen 9.6, Ben Simmons 9.5 (3rd)
AST, assists: Lonzo Ball 7.8, Ben Simmons 7.3, Mike James 6.6
A/TO, assist-to-turnover ratio: Lonzo Ball 2.79, Mike James 2.44, Ben Simmons 1.97 (5th)
STL, steals: Ben Simmons 2.3, Josh Jackson 2.2, Donovan Mitchell 1.7
BLK, blocks: John Collins 1.3, Jayson Tatum 1.0, Ben Simmons 0.8 (4th)
TOV, turnovers: Lauri Markkanen 1.6, Jayson Tatum 1.6, Ben Simmons 3.7 (12th)
PF, personal fouls: Lauri Markkanen 1.9, Lonzo Ball 2.3, Ben Simmons 2.5 (7th)
PTS, points: Kyle Kuzma 19.2, Donovan Mitchell 19.2, Ben Simmons 18.8 (3rd)
Per 36-minute Shooting Stats
Here are the October/November PER 36-minute shooting stats for the thirteen rookies, (with the top two stats in each category highlighted):
| FG | FGA | FG % | | | 3Pt | 3PA | 3P % | | | FT | FTA | FT % | ||
| Ben Simmons | 7.7 | 15.3 | 50.7 | | | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | | | 3.3 | 5.9 | 56.0 | |
| Jayson Tatum | 5.4 | 10.9 | 49.3 | | | 1.7 | 3.6 | 48.6 | | | 3.7 | 4.5 | 82.8 | |
| Kyle Kuzma | 7.4 | 14.7 | 50.4 | | | 1.9 | 5.0 | 37.9 | | | 2.5 | 3.2 | 76.8 | |
| Lauri Markkanen | 5.9 | 14.9 | 39.4 | | | 2.8 | 8.2 | 34.3 | | | 2.5 | 3.1 | 81.1 | |
| Donovan Mitchell | 7.1 | 18.1 | 39.2 | | | 2.7 | 7.5 | 35.6 | | | 2.3 | 2.9 | 82.0 | |
| FG | FGA | FG% | | | 3Pt | 3PA | 3P% | | | FT | FTA | FT% | ||
| Dillon Brooks | 4.1 | 9.0 | 45.6 | | | 1.0 | 3.1 | 31.4 | | | 1.3 | 1.8 | 72.4 | |
| Lonzo Ball | 3.8 | 12.1 | 31.5 | | | 1.4 | 5.4 | 25.7 | | | 0.7 | 1.5 | 46.7 | |
| Mike James | 6.2 | 16.4 | 37.8 | | | 1.5 | 5.2 | 28.9 | | | 3.4 | 4.6 | 75.8 | |
| De’Aaron Fox | 5.7 | 14.4 | 39.4 | | | 0.5 | 1.9 | 27.6 | | | 2.1 | 2.9 | 71.1 | |
| FG | FGA | FG% | | | 3Pt | 3PA | 3P% | | | FT | FTA | FT% | ||
| John Collins | 7.7 | 12.9 | 59.2 | | | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | | | 2.7 | 3.5 | 76.6 | |
| Dennis Smith Jr | 7.2 | 18.6 | 38.8 | | | 1.9 | 6.4 | 29.7 | | | 1.8 | 2.7 | 69.0 | |
| Malik Monk | 5.6 | 15.9 | 35.3 | | | 3.2 | 9.3 | 34.6 | | | 1.1 | 1.5 | 76.9 | |
| Josh Jackson | 6.0 | 15.5 | 39.0 | | | 1.0 | 4.3 | 23.7 | | | 2.4 | 4.7 | 51.6 |
More data to process
FG%, field goal percentage: Simmons is second in field goal percentage (50.7) to John Collins (59.2), but neither player shoots many three-pointers.
3P%, three-point percentage: Jayson Tatum 48.6 %, Kyle Kuzma 37.9 %, Ben Simmons 0.0 %.
FT%, free throw percentage: Jayson Tatum 82.8 %, Donovan Mitchell 82.0 %, Ben Simmons 56.0 % (11th).
Comparisons between Ben Simmons and Lebron James or Magic Johnson or Oscar Robertson are premature, because Ben is a poor mid-range shooter, especially from the free throw line (56.0 %). James is a lifetime 74 % free throw shooter, while Johnson posted 85 % and Robertson posted 84 % in their careers. Johnson (once) and Robertson (twice) also led the league in free throw percentage.
Next: 12-9 Sixers set to win 46.9 games
Outlook
With one-quarter of the season completed, Ben Simmons is the odds-on favorite to win rookie of the year. His stats are near the top in many categories. He is a triple-double threat in every game and has been instrumental in the Sixers much improved play this season.