This will be short as the solution to Ben Simmons' troubles are as clear as day. Coming into the NBA Draft, Ben was already gaining tons of fans and popularity as he looked to be an extremely promising NBA player. He showed flashes of Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, and some even managed to compare him to Lebron 2.0. Simmons' basketball game is strictly bully ball as he's standing tall at 6'10 with a long wingspan, he plays extremely tough defense, and he's got incredible playmaking ability for someone at his height. To me, he really seems like a Kevin Durant type of superstar. Obviously, their game styles are very different, but where they resemble is due to how surprised you are of the skills that they entail at their sizes. Kevin Durant is 6'10 or 6'11, but he has guard skills similar to Kyrie Irving, arguably the shiftiest and most skilled player in the league. Ben Simmons has great strength, great height, he's extremely quick, basically can play any position, but he has great playmaking skills like Jason Kidd, who stands at 6'4? For all of the hate that Ben gets, you have to find boundaries to respect his game and his true skills which he clearly does have. He can easily be a top 10 player, but here's why he is not there yet.
One player who seemed to be in the same category as Ben Simmons is one of my personal favorite players in the league, Lonzo Ball. Lonzo has quietly improved his game in every facet, every single year. He went from this absolutely pitiful, disturbing shot form:
to this:
Two takeaways:
Lonzo Ball has shown players, coaches, GM's, scouts around the league that he is hungry and isn't a draft bust. He gets a good amount of credit for his yearly increase in numbers, but at the same time, it feels as though he doesn't get enough praise for what he's done. After Lonzo's rookie year, people were counting him out and talking about how overrated he was. Look where he is now. It is truly amazing to see a player, who was doubted as much as he was, prove all the haters wrong by letting his game do all the talking.
Ben Simmons has failed to show us that he's spent time perfecting his game, finding a new arsenal, and he's been given many opportunities to prove that his team can win with the player Ben is, but time is ticking now. He showed signs as an offensive liability, and unfortunately showed signs of shying away from the moment. There is a big difference between Giannis and Ben Simmons, although they also have a similarity. Are they both perimeter threats right now? No. Do they let the fact that they aren't 3 point specialists get to their head? Yes and no. Giannis has shown signs of making the defense have to guard him somewhat tight at the 3 point line because they respect Giannis and can't give him anything. They may slack off of Giannis at the 3 point line, but there is a big difference with slacking off a little bit and offering for Simmons to shoot any jump shot he would like. The upside for Ben, although, is that he is 24 years old, and has more than enough time to prove himself.
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