Sixers point guard Ben Simmons has stopped taking 3-pointers and coach Brett Brown considers it a personal failure, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps relays. Brown wants Simmons to take at least one long range shot per game but Simmons hasn’t attempted any in the past month.
“Evidently I have failed and it’s something that we’re all mindful of, and this is one of these things that is never going to go away,” Brown said of Simmons, who agreed to a five-year, $170MM extension with the Sixers over the summer. “The attention this has received is remarkable. But I guess i helped fuel it, and I own it, and I’ve got to help him find this, and most importantly, he has to find himself.”
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Bulls haven’t given any indication they plan to move power forward Thaddeus Young but his contributions have been limited by a lack of playing time, Sam Smith of the team’s website writes. Young signed a partially-guaranteed three-year, $43.6MM contract with the Bulls over the summer. He’s averaging nine fewer minutes with Chicago than he did last season with Indiana and he’s shooting a career-low 39.5% from the field, in part because he’s taking more 3-pointers.
- Getting traded would be the best thing for Pistons center Andre Drummond, Ben Golliver of the Washington Post argues. Detroit is spinning its wheels and its long-term prospects are not promising, since the Pistons are lacking in young talent and don’t have a long-term solution at point guard, Golliver continues. The Pistons have been unwilling to give Drummond a generous extension, so there’s no reason for him to look back if he’s dealt, Golliver adds. Drummond’s name popped up in trade rumors last week.
- Big man Daniel Theis has become an invaluable member of the Celtics rotation with key plays he’s made late in games, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston notes. Theis is essentially playing for his contract since his $5MM salary for the 2020/21 season is not guaranteed.
Simmons can’t shoot. 6ers should put their desires in a contract….not newspaper headlines. Coach Brown is on thin ice and he’s gaining weight.
Even more than the fact that he can’t shoot is that he won’t shoot. He severely limits his potential by letting the defense know that he’s not going to even attempt a long range shot. Even from 10-16 feet out, he’s at 15.8%. In a league where practically everyone on the court shoots threes, it’s baffling.
It’s not that Simmons can’t shoot it’s that he flat out refuses to
Simmons is an old-school pass-first point guard, but as others have pointed out, that’s not a good thing in today’s NBA. If Simmons won’t shoot then perhaps he os better off not starting and being a reserve playing limited minutes. Either that or go play overseas.
I don’t know why people would be against trading Drummond at this point. It isn’t working. None of it. Burn it down. Start over. Sell what assets you have before he bolts for a max deal.
The Sixers need to decide between Embiid who tantalises with flashes of potential, but is either too injured, too heavy or too poorly coached to be effective, or Simmons who projects to be nothing more than Antetokounmpolite, a driving non-shooter who needs to be surrounded by knockdown shooters to be effective before being easily figured out and game-planned for in the playoffs.
The current plan of throwing them both out there with two power forwards and an uninspiring two-guard isn’t working.
cant agree more!
Bulls front office is a joke