Philadelphia 76ers: How will Ben Simmons’ bulk impact his 3-point shot?
How will Philadelphia 76ers’ point guard Ben Simmons’ new bulk impact his shooting?
While the NBA is on hiatus, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ franchise point guard Ben Simmons has been putting in the time by adding muscle and working out with NBA Legend Dwyane Wade. However, one has to wonder, will this added bulk help or hurt Simmons’ 3-point shot?
It may not seem like an important question to ask, especially because Simmons has been actively shying away from that shot. For his career, he’s only shot 2-23 from downtown and those two makes came this year. Yet, the third-year playmaker has proclaimed that he feels like he finally wants to shot 3-pointers in a recent interview with Jackie McMullen of ESPN.
Is more bulk a pro or con for Simmons?
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Assuming Simmons is actually going to start taking 3-pointers once the season continues, it’s hard to say if more muscle will positively or negatively impact his outside shot. Simmons’ doesn’t have perfect shooting form anyway, so being comfortable and using muscle memory is important when he launches the ball from deep.
While being comfortable with his shot has always been an issue with Simmons taking three’s, his muscle memory might be affected by this shot. Now I’m not a pro athlete, but I did play four years of high school basketball and whenever I added significantly more muscle to my body it took time for me to figure out how much strength I need to put behind long-range shots.
I can’t speak for Simmons, but he may run into a similar obstacle now that he’s added more muscle mass. It may not affect him at all or it may cause him to take more time developing his jumper. However, it’s hard to say definitively if actually adding more strength will negatively impact his shot at this point.
The other thing that needs to be considered is the amount of time Simmons is spending working on adding more strength. Simmons was already pretty strong and certainly wasn’t weak by any standards. The question becomes, did he spend his time poorly by working out instead of putting up as many jump shots as possible?
The answer is probably not. Simmons has dealt with two upper-body injuries this season, so adding muscle to protect himself from physical play is a wise choice. It’s not like even if he did nothing but shoot jump shots over this hiatus, then he would be an elite sharpshooter in the playoffs. If he ever develops an outside jumper, it will take multiple seasons before he becomes a real threat from behind the arc.
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It’s hard to say what type of impact Simmons’ newly added bulk will have on his jumper in the short-term, but it shouldn’t negatively impact it for the long -term, which should be a positive for the Philadelphia 76ers.