Philadelphia 76ers: Ranking Ben Simmons as a point guard 2021

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Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Ranking the Philadelphia 76ers’ All-Star Ben Simmons among other point guards in the NBA.

Before the start of this season, head coach Doc Rivers didn’t call Ben Simmons the Philadelphia 76ers starting point guard, but for all intents and purposes, Simmons is, per Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. While I personally want to see him shift to the power forward position, it hasn’t officially happened yet.

With that in mind, it feels like a good time to see where Ben Simmons ranks among the other starting point guards in the NBA this season. Besides where ranks stats wise among all point guards, this article will also be making rankings from 30-1 of the starting point guards in the NBA. If a player isn’t playing due to a long term injury, their backup will be ranked in his place.

Simmons ranks in terms of stats

*All stat ranking comes from ESPN and only includes qualified players’ stats on January 22, 2021.

Simmons’ 12.2 points per game are ranked 23rd among playmakers. He’s fourth in field goal

“These rankings are based on overall skill and who exactly fits the mold of a modern-day point guard.”

percentage (49.6), only behind Collin Sexton (who is really a shooting guard), Monte Morris, and Kyrie Irving. He’s not even in the top-35 of point guards in terms of 3-point percentage as he’s only made 20.0 percent of those shots. Simmons is 29th in free throw percentage at 64.2 percent.

Defensively, Simmons is one of the best point guards. He’s second in rebounds at 9.2 with only Luka Doncic averaging more. His 1.5 steals per game has him tied for the sixth highest average in the league. He’s tied for first in blocks per game with Patrick Beverley with 0.9 per game.

Averaging 8.0 assists per game has Simmons ranked fourth in the NBA only behind Doncic, Trae Young, and Chris Paul. Sadly, Simmons is tied with Young with the second highest turnovers per game average at 4.1 per game in the NBA. Simmons is third in double-doubles among point guards and second in triple-doubles.

While these stats are important and insightful, it doesn’t necessarily paint a good picture of exact ranks among starting point guard in the NBA. These rankings are based on overall skill and who exactly fits the mold of a modern-day point guard.