Philadelphia 76ers: Should Ben Simmons have made an All-Defense team?

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons was left off the 2018-19 All-Defensive teams. Was he deserving?

The 2018-19 first team All-Defense spots were awarded to Eric Bledsoe and Marcus Smart, Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert. The second team featured Jrue Holliday, Klay Thompson (first-time selection), Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid.

Fellow Sixers Jimmy Butler (two first-team votes, five second-team votes) and Ben Simmons (two second-team votes) were also listed on the ballot.

People that have watched the Sixers play throughout this season know how much of an underrated defender Ben Simmons is. When his name is called, he is capable and has proven that he can defend some of the league’s best offensive players, including names such as LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant. No, he is not a top-tier, Kawhi Leonard-esque defender but he is pretty solid and perfect for the modern NBA, being versatile enough to guard all five positions.

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This season Ben Simmons ranked 18th in the NBA in defensive win shares (3.6) and was second in Defensive Box Plus/Minus (2.6).  Ben Simmons’ defensive stock rose significantly during the Raptors/Sixers Eastern Conference Finals this season when Ben’s primary role for the series was to stop Kawhi Leonard. Yes, Kawhi did tear the Sixers apart but when Simmons was guarding “The Klaw”, it was obvious he was the most capable Sixers defender to deter Kawhi.

Ben Simmons was not elected to an All-Defense team this season but in Ben Simmons’ second season he showed much promise and proved his ceiling to be a perineal NBA defender is very high. He has the speed, length, athleticism, strength, and size to defend every position and player on the court and has proven that he can swat away shots from the league’s most aggressive and talented finishers at the rim as well as stop some of the league’s best ball handlers from getting to their spots and slicing up the defense.

Shortly after Jimmy Butler arrived in Philadelphia in November, he and Ben Simmons started the “headband brothers” gig where they would both wear headbands (this was short lived) in a way to show their dedication on the defensive end. Jimmy took Ben under his wing and it showed throughout the year as we saw Simmons improve his defense on a nightly basis.

Ben Simmons was not deserving of an All-NBA Defensive slot this year but if he continues this upward trend and shows the league he can be a consistent stopper on the league’s best, he will get the praise and recognition he deserves. He is 22 years old and still is far from his prime, so expect to see the name Ben Simmons on the All-Defense teams for the foreseeable future.