National Basketball Association

Injury Update: Ben Simmons Rolls Ankle In Practice

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Philadelphia 76ers can ill afford to lose their top draft pick to injury this season. But in practice Friday September 30, point guard Ben Simmons rolled his ankle.

A moment of suspense.

In a collective gasp, the fans of the Philadelphia 76ers must now face the possibility of injury to one of their key players. After all, it’s a sport of stops starts turns and even contact.

But to have that wake-up call over their number one pick from the 2016 NBA Draft is frightening indeed.

And then, the moment happened.

It was just a precautionary scan, so that is the good news folks. If it were suspected to be a break, the imaging would be considered diagnostic, and the tone would address the outlook of his absence for the foreseable future. So that’s good news.

As a precaution, his practice minutes may be reduced for a short time. He may even be placed on minutes restrictions for some early pre-season games. But so far, the diagnosis is nothing more than a rolled ankle. So that is a relief.

But wait, there’s more! We have been flirting with the concept of Ben Simmons at point guard for some time. Today, he got lots of work there.

If Simmons gets into a point guard role sooner than later, that could lead to a lineup of “Tall Ball” sooner than expected this season. We know that head coach Brett Brown will now shy away from placing Simmons at the point guard, as he had plenty of unexpected success when he was forced to use guard Jakarr Sampson in the role in 2014-2015.

If Simmons migrates to the back court, that will give Brown an option to play Joel Embiid at center, move Jahlil Okafor to power forward, Dario Saric to small forward, Robert Covington to the shooting guard, and Ben Simmons at the one.

Its an anxious time for Philadelphia 76ers fans. There is a great deal to sort out. While we fight through realism, optimism and anxiety, today reminds us just how tenuous success will be for the team this year.

The pre-season opens up with the Philadelphia 76ers facing their nemesis the Boston Celtics on October 4, at 7:00 PM ET. Hopefully, all players will be healthy for that showdown.