Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons has a new ceiling

It could not be stated enough that the Philadelphia 76ers fell short of expectations this postseason. The catalyst for that disappointment was the underwhelming play of All-Star Ben Simmons.

While there have been trade articles about Simmons coming out on this site, there’s a real chance he doesn’t get dealt this offseason. The market is at an all time low for the current runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year.

I’ve written in the past wrote that if he stays his position will need to change to more of a point forward role where he’s a secondary playmaker. Assuming he stays and he’s more of a playmaking four, his ceiling as a player changes too.

Simmons’ ceiling changes if the Philadelphia 76ers keep him and change his role.

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Up to this point, the moniker for Simmons has been he’s been a jump shot away from being an elite player. Comparisons to LeBron James and Magic Johnson have been made. However, neither were as timid as a scorer as Simmons showed to be in this postseason.

His role has to change to where he’s only not relied on to produce a lot of offense, which part of that means making him more of a secondary playmaker. On offense, head coach Doc Rivers needs to get Simmons to embracing being the big in a pick-and-role set.

With his role in the offense changing, his ceiling as a player in Philly is changing as well. It won’t be LeBron and Magic comparisons anymore, it should be a prime Blake Griffin without a jump shot. There was a time in his career that Griffin didn’t have much of a jump shot. He was known for his abilities as a slasher, interior scorer, and playmaker.

Obviously, Simmons is a better playmaker than Griffen was in his prime, but athletically, the two are similar. Simmons can be a solid interior scorer when he’s confident and is a fantastic finisher when used in a pick-and-roll.

Don’t get it wrong, while Griffin is nowhere close to where Magic and LeBron were/are as talents, that’s certainly not a bad ceiling for Simmons’ potential moving forward if he stays on the Philadelphia 76ers.