Ben Simmons is a center, not a goalkeeper

The 76ers have a problem with Ben Simmons. He got worse with the playoffs, going from an average of 17.2 points and 7.6 assists against the Nets in the first round to 9.4 points and 4.6 assists against the Raptors in the second. The same thing happened last year, when he played as a superstar against the Heat and was invisible against the Celtics. A simple explanation, a Philadelphia can not ignore: Simmons can dominate the talent alone against less competition, but the holes of his game are exposed against teams of elite. And nothing about this will change until the Sixers change roles. The truth is that Simmons spent his first two seasons of the NBA playing out of position. He is not a playmaker; he is a center.

Sixers head coach Brett Brown emphasized that Simmons was a leader before his first season, but the 22-year-old has the profile of a great traditional man. He takes the vast majority of his shots within 5 feet of the rim, and he can not score outside the paint:

It does not matter in the regular season. Simmons can use his incredible combination of size (6 feet 10 inches and 230 pounds), speed and athletics to get where he wants on the pitch. He can dictate the types of shots he takes. He does not necessarily want to shoot: he is a player who succeeds best with a high IQ for basketball and who can distinguish the defense in motion. But the threat of his scoring ability opens the rest of his game.

The equation changes in the playoffs. Simmons does not have much to do against teams that can control the tempo of the game, pack the paint and lose his driving skills. The 76ers committed an unorthodox offense in the regular season to maximize the abilities of their young star: they were tied for no. 2 in the NBA for the percentage of offenses that come from dribbling (8.2), and in the last two positions for the percentage of offenses for those who handle pick-and-roll balls (11.5) and men (3.5). These numbers are normalizing in the playoffs: dribble transfers have dropped to 6.1% of their total offenses, while the percentage coming from the ball coaches in the pick-and-roll is increasing to 15.3. It all goes back to Simmons. Philadelphia does not offend Toronto as much as it does in the regular season.

One of the main adjustments that Brown has made to the series is to strengthen the power of Jimmy Butler. The Sixers have acquired Butler, a 6-foot-8, 232-pound wing that can shoot from anywhere to get a Plan B they did not have last season. He has treated the ball about as much as Simmons in the last four games. He went from an average of 51.6 touches per game in the regular season, with an average possession time of 3.0 seconds, to 68.0 hits per game against the Raptors, with an average possession time of 5.6 seconds. Butler did everything he could have hoped for, averaging 25.8 points on 46.5% shooting and 6.3 assists in the last four games.

The disadvantage of this change is that Simmons does not have much to do. There is a lot of property where he brings the ball to the field, gives it to Butler, and then stands on the bottom line. His mediocre shot means that he can not play on the perimeter without the ball in his hands and that the lack of shooting around him means that he can not cut the basket either. Butler encouraged Simmons to be more aggressive on the offensive, but his use does not give him much opportunity to channel his aggression. The result is a player who looks passive and undecided. Simmons did not have any impact on the series: the 76ers got a net score of minus-5 in 178 minutes on the floor.

There is a Plan C, which would allow Simmons not to touch the ball and allow him to contribute to the offensive by using it as a marker in the pick-and-roll. This role would unlock the best aspects of his game and prevent the defenses from sinking. Simmons would have a counter for everything. He could display smaller advocates as they changed screens, headed to the edge and caught lobs against a blanket, and played in four-to-three situations where they blitzed. ;screen. It could be a bigger and more athletic version of Draymond Green with more ability to score. A player can not be as good as his role. Draymond would have no comparable value in a team that played only classic alignments. Spending time at 5 is even more important for Simmons because he can not shoot. He should not become an actor. He could do anything Draymond does on average 20 to 25 points per game.

The problem is that building the list of 76ers makes such a role almost impossible. Simmons was only used as a playmaker 17 times in the regular season. He simply does not have room to do it when he plays next to a tall man who can not space the floor. Joel Embiid has shot 30% after 3 attempts in 4.1 attempts per game this season, and the defenses will willingly leave it open if it prevents Simmons from making his way up to the rim. Philadelphia has more centers it would never need: Greg Monroe, Boban Marjanovic, Amir Johnson and Jonah Bolden all got minutes in the playoffs. They moved their only big reliable man (Mike Muscala) into the Tobias Harris trade.

The obvious solution is not to play too much with Simmons in fifth place. However, they did not use these alignments much: they have a net score of over-11.2 in 39 minutes in the regular season and minus-16.8 in the 14-minute playoffs. The sample size of each of the Sixers' playoff series this year is tiny: these lineups were -37.0 in nine minutes against the Nets and less than 136.4 in five minutes against the Raptors. What happened in the Brooklyn series, however, is fascinating. Philadelphia closed the fourth quarter of the third game, which missed Embiid, knee injury, with Simmons at 5. It's the best game of his playoff career. rebounds, three blocks and two interceptions. Look how much space he has on these pieces:

Simmons has the physical tools to play the 5. He is one of the most versatile defensemen in the NBA: he kept D'Angelo Russell and Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs; There is no reason he could not stand up even to the bigger centers: Simmons dominates both Draymond and P.J. Tucker, the two balloons in the series between the Warriors and the Rockets. That said, the transition would not be easy. Draymond and Tucker were second-round picks who fought to enter the league. They were willing to do anything they needed, even if it meant giving up their bodies to bump up against bigger players. Simmons should be willing to do the same and learn to protect the rim and quarter defense. It is an unglamorous job that a young man of 22 years old who was not taken away. 1 in the project might not want to do. Simmons may have to learn the hard way after repeated playoff failures before wanting to change his approach to the game.

The only other option is for him to learn how to shoot. My colleague Kevin O'Connor has spent the last few years saying that Simmons was shooting with the wrong hand. He may be right, but changing hands at this stage of the career is a radical adjustment that few NBA players have ever tried. Those who have, like Tristan Thompson, have not had much success. I do not really believe in Simmons' ability to understand him. He does not have much natural contact with him: he is a career free throw shooter with 58.3% of attempts on 4.8 attempts per game. The simplest solution is to place it in a position where shooting is not as important.

The big problem with moving Simmons to the center is that the 76ers already have a superstar center. Embiid, not Simmons, is the face of their franchise and has played MVP this season. He should stop posting and devote himself to space the floor to leave enough room for Simmons to roll in the basket. Their games just do not go well together: Simmons can not speak for Embiid and Embiid can not run with Simmons. Simmons should play with four players able to change screens and fly on the pitch. That would make it a nightmare – there would not be many traditional NBA centers capable of following it, and it would have a huge advantage in size compared to most small players. The best version of Simmons does not play next to Embiid, it's players like Embiid.

There is no easy answer in Philadelphia. Simmons could be exchanged for players who would better complement Embiid, but that would leave the Sixers uninsured if Embiid broke down. And the uncertain state of health of Embiid means there is no way to get equal value for him in a trade. They will probably continue to ask Simmons to sacrifice herself for the moment. They showed at certain times in the playoffs that they did not need to maximize Simmons' individual play to succeed. They won games 2 and 3 against Toronto by placing him in a smaller role and starring Embiid and Butler. The question is how long will it be ready to do it? Simmons is being killed for being eliminated in the playoffs, but he can only do a lot considering his role on his team. He will never reach his potential before playing in the middle. This might not happen with the 76ers.