Philadelphia 76ers: 5 implications of Ben Simmons at power forward

5. Tobias Harris… the power forward

While the scorecard will likely denominate Simmons as the Sixers’ power forward, for Tobias Harris, this marks a return to his natural position. The four has always been Harris’ position of comfort, and he’s likely to find success easier to come by with Al Horford in the second unit (more on that in a bit…)

Even if Simmons is the nominal power forward, it’s Harris who is likely to defend power forwards. While Harris has improved greatly on defense this season, he’s still a limited athlete who isn’t particularly agile on the perimeter. There are some notable exceptions, but Harris is better off guarding fours in most matchups.

This also bodes well for Harris on offense, where he will play a role more akin to power forward. While Simmons will see more volume as a screener, Harris will often face bigger and slower defenders who were previously assigned to Horford. This gives Harris a much-needed edge when creating his own looks.

Harris will also have the chance to run pick-and-rolls as the ball-handler, using Simmons as a screener. The Simmons screen-and-rolls are bound to create havoc for opposing defenses, off which Harris can feast. The Sixers will still need Harris to contribute on the ball, but a move to a slightly smaller lineup will accentuate his strengths.

What also bears mentioning is Harris’ career-long success as the screener in pick-and-roll. With a more traditional pick-and-roll ball-handler on the floor at point guard, the Sixers will be able to unleash Harris as a screener, which hasn’t happened much at all up until this point.