The HoopsHype Weekly: This is not a drill. Ben Simmons is taking threes now
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NEW STYLE: If the Philadelphia 76ers do not see Ben Simmons shooting from three-point range, it will be increasingly hard to justify having him on the same team as Joel Embiid. With the way modern basketball is played, there is virtually no room on the floor for two players who cannot space the floor. Philadelphia has one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference, but their success will be limited if both Simmons and Embiid are in the dunker spot, clogging the floor and making their attack a bit too predictable. (During his three years in the league, Simmons has just five non-heave three-point attempts on 2,875 total looks).
The Sixers’ problems with spacing were exacerbated by the addition of NBA veteran Al Horford during the offseason. Horford, who signed a four-year, $109 million deal with the team, has shot just 33.7 percent from downtown so far this year. That ranked in just the 39th percentile among all players at his position.
Note that Philadelphia has averaged 27.8 attempts from three-point range per 48 minutes when Horford has played alongside Simmons and Embiid. Compare that with the 46.6 attempts per 48 that Houston has averaged with James Harden on the court with PJ Tucker and Ben McLemore. With numbers that are so wildly different, it is almost like the teams were out there playing entirely different sports.
The scrimmages have given the Sixers an opportunity to experiment with new looks for their rotation. Philadelphia head coach Brett Brown moved Simmons from point to forward on Friday. This brought Shake Milton into the starting lineup in the place of Horford. While the move may seem minuscule, it entirely changed the floor spacing.
Even more drastic, though: Simmons looked far more comfortable stepping beyond the arc for three-pointers. Brown said that it has been a new look for the 24-year-old star: “I feel like his spirit, his mindset coming down here, him willingly finding space and finding threes, that has been a paradigm shift. That has been an attitudinal change, a philosophical, internal decision that he has made because I have just seen a player that is cocky and just playing and when the game says you should shoot because nobody is on you, he does, and he doesn’t blink and his teammates love it and so does his head coach.”
Then in his first exhibition game, Simmons hit one from the corner, telling reporters: “I’m taking what they give me. I’ve been working on the three-ball and shooting it. I’ve been feeling comfortable … just trying to evolve and be a better player.”
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