The Philadelphia 76ers should unleash a new wrinkle on offense.
The Philadelphia 76ers came within a bounce of the conference finals last season, in large part due to adjustments Brett Brown made in the postseason. He moved Ben Simmons off-ball, which allowed Jimmy Butler to run the halfcourt offense. One feature of the Butler-led offense was a drastic increase in pick-and-rolls.
Brown has been a stubborn coach for much of his career, at times stuck in his ways. He has never leaned heavily on the pick-and-roll, partially because it doesn’t fit his offensive style, and partially because the Sixers have never been properly built for it.
Butler was the first elite pick-and-roll weapon Brown had at this disposal, and while it took a while for Brown to implement changes, he did so when the games mattered most. He should do the same this season.
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The Sixers no longer have Butler, and as a result, they no longer have an elite pick-and-roll presence on the roster. At least in the ball-handling department. Josh Richardson was meant to fill Butler’s void, but he’s simply not the same playmaker. He’s less suited to on-ball work.
Even without Butler, the Sixers should still look to integrate more pick-and-rolls down the stretch. It’s the staple of most NBA offenses for a reason, and it could expand opportunities for certain players. The most obvious beneficiary being Ben Simmons.
While Simmons doesn’t profile as a ball-handler in the pick-and-roll — at least, not in the traditional sense — he does have all the makings of an elite roll man. It’s a role Simmons has thrived in before, but has always been hesitant to embrace.
Fortunately for both Simmons and the Sixers, he seems to be coming around on the idea of different roles within the offense. Here are comments he made in a recent media session.
"“I feel like I have a very high IQ on the court and see things a lot differently. I’m able to pass the ball very well, so that’s always a threat. But I love playing the pick-and-roll, situational pick-and-pop, whatever it is. It just gives us so many different options. It’s tough to guard… Wherever you put me or whatever situation it is, I feel like my IQ is high enough to make plays.”"
Simmons, like Brown, has always been stubborn about his role in the offense. Maybe Simmons’ stubbornness has influenced Brown’s stubbornness all this time — it’s Brown’s job, of course, to appease his star.
If Simmons embraces the pick-and-roll, it should become a hallmark of his game. He’s an excellent screener, not only due to his size and strength, but because of the damage he can do as a roll man. Once he’s going downhill, Simmons can either score with finesse at the rim or swing passes to open teammates. He has 360-degree vision at times, and the pick-and-roll is simply another way to take advantage of his gift.
There’s another clear advantage to using Simmons as a screener. It neutralizes his defenders’ tendency to sag off. If Simmons’ defender is in the paint when he sets a solid screen at the three-point line, the ball-handler — Shake Milton, Alec Burks, Tobias Harris, whoever — will have a sea of open space to step into a jump shot.
In postseasons past, Simmons has been neutralized as a ball-handler because of his inability (or unwillingness) to shoot. Defenders step back, and Simmons either runs into a brick wall, or leaves Joel Embiid vulnerable to quick double teams.
To maximize his skill set long term, Simmons will need to work more harmoniously off-ball. He can’t carry the traditional point guard torch his entire career. He’s not built for it. He’s built for much more, and to Brown’s credit, we have seen it work in the past. Now it’s time to make Simmons as a screener a regular occurrence.