Sixers: 3 holes team must fill once Ben Simmons is traded

Holes Sixers must fill after Ben Simmons trade: Half-court playmaking

Losing Simmons in the halfcourt offense will definitely benefit the team’s spacing — with the jump shot-averse point guard removed from the lineup, there won’t be any more camping in the dunker’s spot. However, solving one problem could create another: over the past few seasons, Simmons has been very important to the team’s halfcourt playmaking.

His size as a primary ball-handler makes throwing entry passes and getting the team into their offense a trivial matter. This seems like something any NBA guard should be able to do, but as we collectively learned in the bubble, aggressive ball pressure of the sort Boston deployed against the Sixers can totally throw an offense out of sorts.

That nightmarish series from a ball-handling perspective — who could forget Alec Burks and Shake Milton being the closing backcourt in an NBA playoff game?! — could become business as usual once Simmons departs.

Now, things aren’t entirely bleak in the halfcourt ball-handling department. Tyrese Maxey, as a 20-year-old sophomore, is already more competent at initiating the offense than anyone on that accursed 2019-20 Sixers roster. Seth Curry can handle the ball at least passably, as can Shake. Ideally, Jaden Springer will be ready to playmake as well once he’s had a year or two to develop a smoother handle.

The team’s halfcourt playmaking will definitely take a sizable hit when Simmons leaves, though. Warts and all, Simmons produced a nice 6.9 assists per game on an efficient 2.32 assist-turnover ratio, and five separate Sixers players shot above 38 percent from 3 off his passes. Replicating that competence will take some time as well as some growing pains.