Sixers early season grades: Ben Simmons
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Ben Simmons this season with many fans believing he should’ve been traded away for Harden, some fans still believing he should be traded for Beal and others who’ve held firm in their belief that he Australian should remain in Philly. There’s one thing I don’t think can be argued: Simmons has often been very frustrating to watch offensively. He is just too passive, especially when Embiid is out and he should be stepping up.
He’s having a career low in points, field goals attempted and he’s still shooting less than 65 percent from the line. However, he’s still been an invaluable asset defensively and is doing a good job at playmaking and getting the ball down the floor in transition. There have also been short periods that Ben seems to be truly unleashed as a scorer but unfortunately it hasn’t lasted longer than a single half. Overall, I think Ben is still a very positive contributor to this team but I would just like to see more from him in terms of scoring.
Sixers early season grades: Tobias Harris
After a poor showing in the 2020 playoffs, the preseason and the opener, I had come close to writing Tobias off as a total liability. Since then, he’s playing incredibly well. He’s far more decisive, taking good shots and shooting a career high 46.1 percent on 4.8 attempts from 3 a game. Rivers seems to extract the best out of Harris as he’s now looking like an all-star contender again. His game winner against the Lakers showed great composure under immense pressure to secure the most important victory of the season so far.
While he is still grossly overpaid, he has been incredibly valuable for Philadelphia and I cringe just thinking about what our offense may be like without him. But he has impressed beyond his offense because his defense has also exceeded all expectations. Tobias has had one of his best season of his career and I hope he continues delivering at the same level that he has been throughout the season.