2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year ladder: Week 10 power rankings

3. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers

Last rank: No. 2 (↓1)

The Philadelphia 76ers and rookie Ben Simmons have fallen on some hard times in the month of December. They are 2-8 and have fallen under .500 on the season with a 14-17 record overall. Philadelphia has lost four games in a row and have been without big man Joel Embiid for the past three contests.

The Sixers held the lead in their last contest, leading by as many as 22 points over the Toronto Raptors before falling 114-109 in the end. Tentative was the operative word when describing Simmons’ game on the defensive side of the ball. He was nowhere to be found as DeMar DeRozan went off for a career-high 45 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.

Simmons’ challenge will be to slow down DeRozan as the Sixers face them once again this Saturday night in their third of four meetings this season. So far, Philadelphia is 0-2 against Toronto in 2017-18. Simmons did have 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, but he also had seven turnovers in the loss. That’s something else he’ll need to limit to improve the Philadelphia’s odds. He’s averaging 4.7 turnovers per game this season.