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Philadelphia 76ers: 2017-18 player grades for Ben Simmons

By Simon Smith

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 30: Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter of Game One of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on April 30, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 30: Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter of Game One of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on April 30, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Weaknesses

Unfortunately for the Sixers and Simmons, there is one glaring problem that has garnered enormous attention: Simmons’ lack of an outside shot.

For his rookie season, Simmons converted at a 32.5 percent clip from between 10-19 feet, with this conversion rate dropping to 23.5 percent during the Sixers’ 10-game postseason run. The impact of Simmons’ lack of perimeter shooting was most notable during the Sixers’ second round matchup with the Boston Celtics, with the following tweet outlining the 21-year-old’s lack of impact:

In fact over the course of the regular season, Simmons attempted just 11 shots from 3-point range, with eight of these essentially half-court flings. In the modern-day NBA, with 3-point shooting becoming such a dangerous weapon, to have your starting point guard not convert a single 3-point shot is extremely unusual.

Following the series against the Celtics, Simmons was quizzed about his intentions on this area of his game:

"“Changing the whole shot? No. I think just working on it and adjusting to where I want the ball, loosening my shoulder up and just getting shots up.”"

A less surprising area of focus for Simmons this summer will be his turnover rate. This season, Simmons ranked eighth in the league in committing 3.4 turnovers per game.

This included 19 games of five or more turnovers, featuring a season-high seven turnovers on three occasions. With the Sixers leading the league in turnovers this season at 16.5 per game, having Simmons get his own rate under control will certainly be a priority moving forward.