Philadelphia 76ers: Hiatus is just what Ben Simmons needed

The Shot

The league alone has taken a step back, and its talented vets are missing out on some of the most precious moments of their careers. How much will this elongated pause in action affect the top-tier crop of players — the LeBrons, the Leonards or the Giannises of the world? How will the healthy Sixers look? Things are going to be much different now. But now is as good a time as any for Simmons to finally make his leap that fans have been clamoring for. He just needs to realize that.

It’s remarkable what he has accomplished so early in his career, and none of that can be glossed over. But come on, say his shooting substantially improves and he willingly starts letting it fly consistently from deep. Who’s stopping him?

So far, it’s been Simmons himself. He has repeatedly scoffed at questions related to his shooting concern and refuses to mend his game’s biggest blemishes like many other guards his age — Jaylen Brown with his overall scoring and patience probing the lane against defenses, or Jamal Murray with his on-ball defense and strength. This is why the widespread curse of granting a max contract extension before a player has wholly lived up to it is always going to be revisited.

Make no mistake about it, Simmons isn’t apart of this problem. His ceiling remains among the highest for players under the age of 25. He’s the league leader in steals and fifth in the league in assists, and as special as that is for someone with a 6’10” frame, it becomes absolutely terrifying for opponents with knowledge of what he has yet to offer. No one is saying he should be Kevin Durant … Perhaps a different version? You see where this is going.

But when Simmons’ salary jumps from $8.1 million to $29.3 million next season, helping the Sixers remain atop the Eastern Conference becomes paramount.

The good news is, the longer this suspension, the less daunting of a task that becomes.

Drafting Simmons No. 1 overall in 2016 was, and still is the right move, though critics will continue to air their grievances of one of the only wise decisions made by former Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo during his tenure.

While it may not always appear to be true, Simmons has the mentality and work ethic of a winner in the NBA, and he cares deeply about the parts of the game that the general public often ignores. His IQ and efficiency have been there. And if they weren’t, then we’d be having a completely different conversation.