The Philadelphia 76ers had one player named as an All-Star starter, but in reality they should have had two players named as starters.
When Christopher Kline of The Sixer Sense wrote about Joel Embiid being the only member of the Philadelphia 76ers to be named as an All-Star starter, he also briefly mention that Ben Simmons could have been snubbed for that honor. I tend to agree with Kline and want to dissect his statement even further.
Below is the full quote in which Kline suggested that Simmons was snubbed, to get better context of what will be covered in this article.
"“Another potential snub was the Sixers’ own Ben Simmons. He would have finished on the outside looking in personally, but the argument in favor of Simmons was a convincing one — more convincing than Young, even. He should be locked into a reserve spot.”"
Kline and I both share the belief that Simmons has a better case to start as an All-Star guard over Trae Young. Young is singled out here for several reasons over veteran All-Star starting guard Kemba Walker as the less worthy candidate. The most important reason is because I can’t make an unbiased argument on why Simmons should make it over Walker.
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To be clear, the purpose of this piece isn’t to discredit Young as an individual player. Young’s having a phenomenal season as he’s averaging 29.1 points and 8.8 points, which puts him in the leagues’ elite in both categories. Still, that alone doesn’t necessarily warrants a player to be an All-Star starter.
Young is literally on the second worst team in the NBA. In the past, players that put up big numbers on bad teams don’t usually make the All-Star team, let alone be a starter. Players like Devin Booker have been left out of the All-Star game in the past for this very reason.
On top of that, for all the impressive numbers that he puts on offense, Young is terrible on the defensive end. He has 112 Defensive Rating Per 100 Possession this season and his small frame makes him an easy target for opposing defenses.
Despite Ben Simmons unwillingness to take outside shots, has a lot of these things working in his favor. He’s on a good team firmly in the playoff picture. He’s already been an All-Star once before, albeit as a reserve last season.
The Sixers point guard is averaging 16.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, a league leading 2.2 steals and 0.7 blocks. Simmons is one of the most versatile defenders in the whole NBA. He’s also stepped up his game offensive since Embiid went down with injury.
There’s a fair argument to be made that Simmons’ overall game should outweigh Young’s offensive talents, in regards to being an All-Star starter. Sadly, it’s too late for Simmons to be a starter this upcoming All-Star game, but he’s more than likely going to be in the game as a reserve. While it would have to have two All-Star starters, but the Philadelphia 76ers will have to settle for just one starter and probably one reserve.