Philadelphia 76ers: Ranking every player on the 2018-19 roster post-trade deadline
2. Ben Simmons
Coming in at the No. 2 spot is second-year point guard Ben Simmons, the same spot he was at before the season began. Though there were some outliers who disagreed about his spot, most of TSS had him firmly at two.
It is easy to see why Ben is here. For starters, there is a 7-foot-2 center by the name of Joel Embiid who unanimously garnered the top spot. And while the Fresh Prince certainly has most of the tools necessary to take over the league, his obvious lack of a jump shot keeps him from joining that elite tier of NBA players — for now.
The reigning Rookie of the Year is having another impressive season, and has improved in almost all aspects of his game. Currently, he is averaging 17.0 points, 7.8 assists and 9.0 rebounds per game.
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His scoring and rebounding is up since last season, albeit just slightly. His assists are down 0.4 from last season, but given the roster shakeups and his increase in scoring, this is understandable. His turnovers are also up from last season, which is something that a lot of Sixers fans hope he starts to bring down. But, he only began running an offense for the first time last year, so we’ll cut him some slack for now. Ideally, averaging fewer than three turnovers per game should be the mark Ben aims for.
Big Ben is scoring at an impressive rate, converting 57 percent of his field goals, which ranks 13th in the league. Simmons is the only player not listed as a power forward or center in the top-20 for field goal percentage. While this can be attributed to the fact that he is taking 87 percent of his shots within 10 feet of the basket, he has been attempting more mid-range shots and has even taken two legit (!!!) NBA three-pointers.
While he makes only a small percentage of his jumpers, his increased willingness to take them should give Sixers fans a little hope. His poor free throw rate (58 percent) still makes him somewhat of a liability towards the ends of the games, but he has had the occasional 80-90 percent showing from the charity stripe.
Ben has also shown improvement as a defender. His quickness, along with his 6-foot-10, 230-pound frame, allows him to seamlessly switch and defend guards, wings and even some centers, which is invaluable for the Sixers’ switch-everything defense. While he has been lackadaisical at times, he’s proven that he can lock down opposing players when it counts and make some clutch plays, such as this late-game block on Stephen Curry on Jan. 31.
Moving forward, we can expect Big Ben to continue to be a well-rounded young star who seems to do everything on the court except shoot. The addition of Tobias Harris and the attention he requires on the outside should only free up space in the lane for Ben to take advantage of. While his jump shot is still relatively nonexistent, it is encouraging to see him actively working on it and taking more in games.
Ben has one of the most well-rounded skill-sets in the league, and he is still only 22. As the new lineups start to mesh, it will be exciting to see Ben lead the offense hopefully in a deep playoff run.