National Basketball Association

5 Realistic Ben Simmons Predictions This Season

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:06 p.m. ET

Fansided, Josh Wilson/FanSided via The Sixer Sense

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Ben Simmons looked prepared to debut soon for the Philadelphia 76ers, but what can fans expect? Here’s some (somewhat) reasonable expectations.

Ben Simmons is right on the edge of debuting for the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons, who was drafted with the top overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, unfortunately suffered a Jones Fracture in his foot before preseason this year, and has been out for the entire season so far recovering from that.

The Sixers have actually been doing quite well without Simmons. The team debuted three other rookies in Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. Embiid was a star right away, and garnered big attention as he almost made it in as a starter in the All-Star game (only to later be snubbed as a reserve as well). TLC and Saric are now developing into great players after a slower start than Embiid.

Simmons, however, has been out, and much of what the team has done with him has been behind closed doors. Simmons came into the league notably not having much of a jump-shot, but it looks like that will be all alright for the Sixers, because in the time Embiid spent off before debuting due to injury, they were able to refine his jump-shot and give him a threatening skill-set from beyond the arc.

The team is winning now, but Simmons only looks as if he could make the team even better. Still, fans aren’t sure exactly what to expect considering that Simmons is a rookie and did spent the last few months out of basketball activity due to injury.

Here are some predictions that are positive for Simmons, and most likely attainable. Whether we see Simmons debut before or after the All-Star break, he should be able to reach these goals.

Jan 11, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) dribbles during pregame warm ups against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

League leader in assists for a month

Most people know that the quality that is most exciting about Ben Simmons for Sixers fans is his passing. When he was at LSU, he ran the team’s offense quite well, and although he did a bulk of the team’s scoring, also set his teammates up well to score at times, too.

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When we had an opportunity to see Simmons play for the Sixers for the first time this past summer during Las Vegas Summer League, his passing was on full display. There’s a lot of things that contribute to Simmons being a great passer, but above all, his height (allowing him to see above his compeition as well as his teammates) and his incredible gift of court vision push the envelope for him to be as good of a passer as he can be.

With that in mind, we should expect Simmons to be racking up the assists when he finally debuts for the Sixers. He will be able to find where the ball needs to be and put it there, setting his teammates up for big scores.

While it may take Simmons some time to get in the swing of things, we could realistically predict that Simmons will be one of the high-volume assist getters in the league, often keeping up with the best of the league’s point guards. We should expect at least one month for Simmons where he is within the top three in assists per game, of course, barring any potential minutes restrictions.

If Simmons is on a minutes restriction, then we may have to alter the prediction a bit, instead changing it to predicting that there will be at least one month where SImmons will be in the top three in assists per 36 minutes.

Whatever the case, that’s a pretty bold prediction, but one that would help Simmons prove himself to Sixers fans and the ret of the NBA coming off of his injury. If he can keep up with the numbers some of the guards in the NBA put up in his rookie year and coming off of an injury, than the Sixers will have certainly found someone special.

For context, in January, the top three players in assists per game are Chris Paul, James Harden, and John Wall, averaging 11.0, 10.6, and 10.3 respecttively.

Per 36 minutes it’s Chris Paul, Beno Udrih, and Ricky Rubio, averaging 14.4, 12.3, and 11.4 respectively.

Those numbers, coupled with Joel Embiid’s incredible scoring and rebounding, would be a dream for Sixers fans.

Jan 16, 2017; Villanova, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) watches game between Villanova Wildcats and Seton Hall Pirates during the second half at The Pavilion. Villanova defeated Seton Hall, 76-46. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Grabs 10 rebounds in one game

Another realistic goal for Simmons is to grab 10 rebounds in a single game this season. This may seem like a stretch for a player who is playing point guard, but Simmons should be able to get it done.

The thing that SImmons brings to the table that makes him better than the prototypical point guard in the NBA is that along with incredible ball handling and passing skills, he also has a strong, lengthy frame that makes him more versatile than the shorter guards.

While this does put him at a disadvantage in some situations — guarding some of the league’s lighting quick point guards will not be something for him to do, most likely — it does help him in others, and the rebounding category is one of those situations.

Prior to the narrative that Simmons is going to be a great passer being born, the biggest thing he brought to the table was his ability to attack the rim, and his ability to rebound the ball. Since he’s got a ton of length and muscle to work with, he should be able to challenge some big men and power forwards for those rebounds, and should be able to use that to his advantage in the fast break.

When Simmons is grabbing rebounds and also running the point, it allows him to grab the rebound, and just go, not having to wait for an outlet pass. Because of this, the team is likely going to put an emphasis on him playing defense on players closer to the rim, or potentially in the mid-range.

Simmons has the physical attributes and the team has the means to provide him with ways to get rebounds, so a single game with 10 of them shouldn’t be an issue whatsoever for Simmons.

Sep 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) during media day at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

One 30 point game, five 20 point games

On top of passing and rebounding, Simmons has an incredible ability to score, as briefly mentioned in the previous slide. Although there was a huge knock on Simmons coming into this season as the top overall pick that he didn’t have a great shooting ability, the Sixers and Simmons set out to refine his shot this summer and debunk those myths.

While we haven’t seen what he can do in game situations, we have seen him attempt 3-pointers in practice and before games, and his form seems to be much better than it was before. Even more importantly, he’s making his shots, which shows the work the team and him are putting in toward his game is paying off.

Aside from his new ability to hit shots from a longer distance, Simmons has always had a way to score even without a jump-shot, and that was to attack the rim. This was something that was overlooked by those who pointed to him not having a jump-shot coming into the year, as many pointed to the big man logjam as a reasoning for why Simmons’ means of scoring wouldn’t work for the Sixers. While Simmons’ tendency to do his scoring at the rim isn’t ideal for the spacing of the offense, it’s also not completely devesating, because he is not anchored to the rim for the entire offensive possesion.

Simmons has the ability to move around the perimeter, and really anywhere in the half-court and still be effective with the ball in his hands. So it’s not as if not having a refined and crisp jump-shot just yet is the end of the world for Simmons and the Sixers.

Regardless, he’s proven that he’s already worked on it. His new shooting ability, as well as his ability to get to the rim and put the ball down will ensure that Simmons has the means to get one 30 point game, and five 20 point games this season. The one 30 point game seems realistic, and the five 20 point gmaes might actually be underselling Simmons a bit — but only time will tell.

Jan 11, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons practices prior to a game against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Puts up a triple double

We’ve talked about assists, rebounds, and scoring, now let’s bring that all together. Simmons is not a one-trick pony, and the major appeal about him is that he has the ability to take over in may different areas of the game at the same time.

Getting a triple-double is something that is sought after in the NBA, because that level of achievement really shows that a player is an all-around great player. The Sixers haven’t had a player be at that level in a really long time. While T.J. McConnell was close to achieving a triple double earlier this season, he fell just short.

The last Sixers player to get a triple double was Michael Carter-Williams in the 2014-15 season. MCW did it three times that season, and twice the season before for the Sixers. Tony Wroten also had a triple double in 2013-14, and Jrue Holiday had one the year before that.

So there was a pretty steady flow of triple doubles from at least one player for a decent amount of time, but when the rebuild really started to kick in, that dropped off (to no surprise). With Simmons back, though, he should be able to kick it back up.

His ability to play in many different aspects of the game at a pro level allows him to diversify himself and his statistics. Grabbing rebounds is no issue for him, and his transition game will be stellar. Whether he takes it to the rim himself, or dumps it off to a teammate, Simmons will be able to get a rebound as well as two points or an assist on 5-10 transition plays per night, which will already give him a nice base of a triple double.

On top of that, he can work in the half-court offense and look at his offense to see what the best passing routes are, and where the best options are. Simmons is intelligent and can use his vision to his advantage. With Brett Brown seeming ready to give Simmons the point guard keys when he debuts, there’s no reason to expect Simmons to miss out on getting a triple double this season. At least once, but I’m willing to bet he can do it a few times.

Jul 9, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) gestures from the court during an NBA Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

A major key to a game winning play

Something that’s going to be a really positive glimpse into the future for Sixers fans is seeing Simmons be a clutch factor in close games. The Sixers have had tons of games that went right down to the final minutes, and even seconds of games, and have generally not had one single player to rely on to come up with a clutch play.

Simmons has all of the tools to be that player moving forward when the Sixers are in close situations.

Brett Brown has noticeably called fewer and fewer timeouts when it comes down to the final seconds of games and just let his team run, and that has worked out really well for them. Still, with Simmons on the floor, there may be value in calling a timeout and drawing up a play.

Whatever Brown draws up will certainly involve Simmons, whether that be him facilitating the ball to someone else, or scoring it himself. Simmons will be a huge piece of the puzzle.

But if Brown continues to just let his team run rather than calling a timeout to draw up plays, Simmons will still be a main piece. The team is usually in transition when Brown chooses not to call a timeout, and all signs point to Simmons being a leader of the transition game. Simmons will push the ball down the court and have the option to attack the hoop and score himself, or pass off to a teammate.

Either way, Simmons has all the qualities of a star, and a star has to be good in the clutch. If he’s anything like we hope he is, he’ll have at least one game situation this year where he’s a key factor in pushing a game winning play.