Ben Simmons has spent most of his time in the early part of this season playing point guard for the 76ers. Simmons is usually the primary ball handler even when he shares the court with Markelle Fultz — a prototypical point guard at 6-foot-4 who posted a usage rate of 31.4 percent as a freshman at Washington last season. Although Simmons has also proven the ability to make plays off ball as a screener, roller and cutter when needed in Philadelphia’s opening four games, he’s been the one initiating the offense more often than not.
As a result, Simmons is averaging 6.3 possessions per game as the ball handler in pick-and-rolls, putting him alongside the likes of Jeff Teague, Goran Dragic and CJ McCollum near the top of the league. It’s where he’s generated 32.9 percent of his offense thus far, making it his most used play type. While he only ranks in the 52.3 percentile with 0.88 points per possession in those situations, the progress he’s already shown as a scorer and facilitator has been encouraging for his development.
Out of the two, Simmons’ passing out of the pick-and-roll might be the better indicator of his long-term potential. He won’t likely ever be as dominant as LeBron James overall, but he has long been compared to him because of his ability to handle the ball and create easy baskets for his teammates, functioning as a 6-foot-10 point guard. He’s already off to a great start in his NBA career, totaling 28 assists in four games. The only players who have recorded more assists than Simmons in the opening week of the NBA season are John Wall (30), James Harden (34), Russell Westbrook (35) and Draymond Green (36). Simmons has done a decent job of taking care of the ball, too, with 2.5 assists per turnover.
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Some of those assists have come off of simple reads. With his reliance on getting to the basket to create his own scoring opportunities, Simmons has already developed chemistry with the outside shooters on Philadelphia’s roster by setting them up for open looks when their defenders help off of them. Even though Simmons isn’t yet a refined scorer in the half court, his combination of size and skill makes it tough for defenses to keep him out of the paint. It’s why pairing him with strong 3-point shooters will open up the floor in ways he needs to make his mark.
Where Simmons begins to show off the type of court vision you’d expect to see in a veteran point guard is by setting up those same shooters on the weak side out of the pick-and-roll. Take the following sequence against the Pistons as an example.
It’s a perfect play by Simmons. He draws Andre Drummond away from Joel Embiid, which means Anthony Tolliver has to leave T.J. McConnell in the corner to prevent Embiid from getting an open dunk. Simmons then notices Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris sticking to their assignments — J.J. Redick and Robert Covington, who are the best shooters on the 76ers roster — leaving McConnell wide open for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. He makes it look easy, but that’s a high level read by Simmons.
Now watch what Simmons does on the next possession down the court:
It’s the same read, only this time Simmons makes a LeBron-like pass with his left hand. It hits McConnell perfectly in his chest and creates a wide open 3-pointer for Covington in the form of a hockey assist. Once again, it’s not something you’d expect to see from a 21-year-old, 6-foot-10 rookie point guard.
Embiid, of course, plays a big role in the success of those possessions. If defenses weren’t worried about him popping and rolling as a center, Simmons wouldn’t be able to set up those shooters with the types of looks they need to keep a defense honest. If teams are confident in their ability to slow down a Simmons-Embiid pick-and-roll with two defenders, though, it opens up opportunities like this:
As well as this:
There are teams better equipped to deal with those possessions than the Pistons, but they speak to the potential of the Simmons and Embiid pairing. Both are built for the modern NBA, with Simmons having the court vision and handle of a point guard in the body of a power forward and Embiid having the skills of a forward in the body of a center. If Simmons can eventually punish mismatches with ease and consistently make teams pay for going under screens, it’ll give the 76ers a versatile 1-2 punch most defenses won’t have an answer for.
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Simmons obviously still has a lot of developing to do before he ever reaches that point — as does Embiid — and it’s entirely possible he never develops the jump shot many believe he needs to become a transcendent talent. And yet, based on the way he’s already picking defense apart with his passing, there’s good reason to believe in him as the type of point guard the 76ers can build an elite offense around. The fact that he’s already sold everyone on him being a “point guard” four games into his NBA career also says a lot about how comfortable he has looked out of the gates.
All statistics are up to date as of Oct. 24.