Philadelphia 76ers: Why isn’t Ben Simmons appreciated enough?

The Philadelphia 76ers have a budding superstar on their hands, but he’s unfairly maligned for one very specific reason.

Ben Simmons is a ridiculous talent. At 6’10”, 240 pounds with elite athleticism, his physical gifts alone could get him an NBA job. Add in the basketball skills, and you have a star on your hands.

Unfortunately, many fail to wrap their heads around his obvious stardom because of one thing missing from Simmons’ game: a respectable shot.

The past two postseasons have seen Simmons relegated to the dunker’s spot (below the basket) for important moments on offense because he has no threat outside the restricted area. This has caused an obnoxious amount of people to conclude he’s bad in those moments, i.e. not fit for the playoffs.

And that, folks, is ridiculous.

The dude impacts every part of a basketball game positively. He’s a triple-double threat every night, running the offense like a true floor general for the Philadelphia 76ers. Though his scoring is down this year, that’s to be expected with this revamped roster. He’s not a scorer, and shouldn’t be treated like one.

When he does get aggressive, though, he’s quite good. Of players with at least six field goal attempts in the restricted area this season (28 players), Simmons makes them at the seventh-best clip at 69.1 percent.

Philly’s starting lineup is excellent, and he is a focal point of it. One can argue that his surrounding talent in that quintet buoys him, but that’s not sensible. Brett Brown has always staggered him and Joel Embiid anyway, and now in his solo minutes, Simmons has a true stretch-5 in Al Horford. Spacing at all four spots around him has worked wonders; he and Horford torch teams by 11.3 points per 100 possessions.

The only players The Fresh Prince has a negative Net Rating with are Furkan Korkmaz, which is weird, and Kyle O’Quinn, who doesn’t compliment Simmons well. The Sixers’ offensive rating, on the whole, is 8.0 points better with him running it.

Simmons a threat to start a fast break at any time with elite speed and finishing, which forces opposing defenses into a bind. Someone has to be quick enough to neutralize that transition threat, and if that someone is too small, it’s bully ball time.

Then there’s the other side of the floor, which Simmons is even better on. He was an impactful defender from day one and has only improved since.

Last postseason saw him tackle the toughest defensive assignments. He smothered D’Angelo Russell in the first round and did the best any mortal could do against Kawhi Leonard in the next. Without his work against the eventual Finals MVP, it’s unlikely the Sixers even sniff Game 7.

This season he’s taken an even bigger leap. Josh Richardson handles the point of attack and Joel Embiid protects the rim, leaving Simmons to roam. This freedom has propelled him to 2.3 steals per game so far, which ranks third in the league and is well above his 1.6 average from the two seasons prior.

The team’s defensive rating with Simmons on the court is 104.2, which would be the 10th-best team DRtg in the league.

Simmons has been a star since his teens. He was a monster at Montverde Academy, a basketball factory that moonlights as a high school, and then tore up the college game by averaging 19 points and 11 boards at Louisiana State. He won Rookie of the Year in 2017-18, made the All-Star Game last season and even got All-NBA votes. He’s been great at every level.

People want to dislike him because he’s been a star for so long. They want to find something wrong with him because so much is right.