Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz making progress with jump shots

Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown offered his thoughts on the progress made by Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz this summer.

Today was Brett Brown’s sixth annual media luncheon, during which he spoke with reporters on a variety of topics ranging from the GM search to Zhaire Smith‘s projected return date. The Philadelphia 76ers coach offered some valuable insight.

Keith Pompey’s Twitter feed documented several comments from Brown, while other media members have tweeted out information as well. This nugget from WIP’s Jon Johnson, however, might be the most intriguing statement from the event.

According to Keith Pompey, Ben Simmons has been working on his jumper with his brother, Liam Simmons. Formerly an assistant coach at the University of California Riverside, Liam resigned to work with Ben on a full-time basis.

While not an official part of Brett Brown’s staff, the coach voiced his support for the Simmons brothers’ collaboration. Brown used to coach Liam.

Simmons adding a viable three-point shot would be quite the development. He’s already on pace to become a perennial All-Star in the Eastern Conference, but Simmons’ ceiling won’t be reached without a semi-reliable jumper.

Expecting Simmons to begin the season chucking threes is ill-advised, but it doesn’t have to be a huge part of his game. Even if he only hits the occasional spot-up jumper, the mere threat of him shooting jumpers would put significant stress on the opposing defense.

In the playoffs, the Celtics were able to exploit Simmons’ limited scoring arsenal by packing the paint and running shooters off the three-point line. They took away his passing lanes and forced him to becoming a one-on-one scorer, which led to an underwhelming series from the rookie.

There are other ways to fix those issues — adding another ball handler, like Markelle Fultz, will help — but Simmons needs to expand his range in order to join the league’s elite.

In addition to Simmons, Markelle Fultz has also been working tirelessly on his shot this summer. Training will renowned skills coach Drew Hanlen, Fultz put up around 150,000 shots this summer, according to Brett Brown.

Brown also noted that Fultz has been “seeking out shots” in the Sixers’ practice facility, which is an extremely promising development. Part of the concern with Fultz last season was confidence, so getting back the swagger and mentality that defined him at Washington is extremely important.

Even if the form is inconsistent, the biggest hurdle with Fultz will be getting him comfortable with taking in-game jump shots. It’s only upside from that point forward.

During the luncheon, Brown also addressed the possibility of Simmons and Fultz sharing the floor, which he said will happen. He went through different ways to space the floor around two players not known for their shooting, mentioning Joel Embiid, Mike Muscala and Dario Saric‘s ability to hit threes and occupy the corner.

For the most part, these comments should inspire optimism heading into training camp. Neither Fultz nor Simmons are knockdown shooters at this point, but progress is being made. Given their talent level, both should be important contributors next season.

Training camp kicks off with media day on Sept. 21, followed by three days of practice and the Blue x White on Sept. 25.