10. Ben Simmons
Does he look like anything else we’ve seen before? One guy comes to mind.
Magic Johnson, a 6’9” point guard, came into the league and averaged an 18-8-8 line with a 60 true shooting percentage and a 20 usage rate, sporting ungodly court vision and passing ability from jump street. He also took a mere 31 3-pointers in his rookie year in a league where that wasn’t a big deal.
Simmons is 6’10”, averages 17-8-7, shoots it much worse (53 true shooting percentage) with a higher usage rate (24 percent), and sees the court at an 8.7 to Magic’s 10. He’s taken (and missed) 10 3s in a league where that’s a very big deal.
Welcome to NBA Bizarro World, where the presumptive 2018 Rookie of the Year is a ball-handler who can’t hit the ocean from the beach. Of course, the shooting would be a much bigger deal if he didn’t play with a center who has already launched over 200 3s through about 70 games in his young career.
It still has to be a bit concerning that the shot chart of your team’s nominal point guard looks like the Blob has attacked the rim.
Here’s the thing though: Even though opponents know what is – and isn’t – coming, they can’t stop it. Simmons is shooting nearly 68 percent on shots at the rim. He’s figuring out ways to score, and getting better (he’s at a 56 true shooting percentage for January)
No one really knows how the fit between he and Joel Embiid is going to evolve, especially when (if?) Markelle Fultz gets injected into the mix, but Philly is more than happy to watch the living, breathing science experiment play out. As are the rest of us.