Do Philadelphia 76ers know Ben Simmons’ value?
By Bret Stuter
The Philadelphia 76ers have a franchise changing talent with Ben Simmons at point guard. But if they truly intend to move him, do they even understand just how good he is?
The Philadelphia 76ers created an NBA revolution. And now, in the eye of the NBA hurricane they created, they appear to be having second doubts? The revolution is simple. They placed a 6-foot-10 Ben Simmons at the point guard position. In his rookie season, Simmons exceeded all expectations. An historic moment in NBA history for sure. There are plenty of examples of historic moments where expectations were missed by a mile.
Rather than dump the results, the greatest minds stopped, paused, and tried to understand what happened instead. Right now, the Philadelphia 76es are at that historic moment. Let’s hope that they too stop, pause, and try to understand what just happened. Yes, it’s understandable that the powers that be cannot quite grasp the upside of Ben Simmons. He’s broken records, and set the bar so incredibly high for the team in the point guard role. But he’s not the typical point guard, and basketball minds appear to be challenged by thinking outside-the-box.
Simmons aiming at elite status
Ben Simmons has electrified the NBA at point guard. Truly electrified. He has broken Magic Johnson‘s rookie record of Triple Doubles. And he has helped lead the Philadelphia 76ers from a 28 win season to a 38 win plus 14 to go season which will very likely find the team in the NBA playoffs. Huge strides forward. And some of that is thanks to the play of center Joel Embiid. But much of it is thanks to the play of 2016 top-pick Ben Simmons.
What expectations did the team set for Simmons to succeed at the one? It could not possibly have been to break Magic Johnson’s rookie record for triple-doubles. But Simmons has done that. It could not possibly have been to be the team’s third-leading scorer without a perimeter shot, but he’s done that too. There is no way the team could expect Simmons to be one of the better defensive players on this team. But there he is again. And no how, no way could the team have set the bar on assists to be the most since Jrue Holiday of the 2012-2013 Philadelphia 76ers, but he’s done that too.