By Focusing On What He Does Well, Simmons Hoping To Use Nets Opportunity To Rewrite Narrative
There might not be a more polarizing player in the NBA than Brooklyn’s Ben Simmons.
I encountered further evidence of such divergent passions after my innocuous tweet on Tuesday that noted how the formerly disgraced three-time NBA All-Star had not only posted the Nets’ top defensive rating during Brooklyn’s small-sample nine-game winning streak, but he also had the highest offensive rating among rotation members.
Thanks to Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn’s brain cramp during Wednesday night’s first half in Atlanta, where he allowed both superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to run the full 12 minutes in the first quarter instead of staggering them, Simmons’ offensive rating dipped a tad while forced to play with an experimental second quarter lineup for 6:30 that had no chance of success. (For the record, Vaughn said in his postgame press conference that he didn’t want to burn a timeout to bring in subs—except he could have instructed someone to give a foul since the team came out with such a lackluster effort that they only committed one all quarter) Fortunately, the Hawks were on the back end of a back-to-back while missing three starters, including All-Star guard Trae Young, so the Nets managed to squeak by, 108-107, for their tenth consecutive win.
Simmons’ impact, though somewhat muted on Wednesday like most of his teammates, went beyond what you saw in the box score. The Nets were a more stringent defensive bunch with Simmons on the State Farm Arena court than off, particularly during the run at the start of the third quarter that helped Brooklyn whittle down what was once a 15-point Hawks’ lead and then again in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter when Irving went bonkers with his showstopping shotmaking.
Simmons’ defense, for which he earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors twice in four seasons in Philadelphia before he was traded to Brooklyn as the featured return in February’s James Harden blockbuster, has always been his bread-and-butter. His size, versatility and athleticism allow him to be just as effective guarding ballhandlers out on the perimeter as he is in the post (though the jury is still out on whether he can handle the bulkier bigs, which is a problem when the Nets play him at the five).
No, Simmons incurred the wrath of the Philly faithful (I use that term loosely when referring to those bandwagoneers) because of his inability to make shots outside the paint, including from the free throw line. He was accused of playing scared out of a fear of being fouled, with his late-game pass to Matisse Thybulle in lieu of taking an open layup in Game 7 of the Sixers’ loss to Atlanta in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals viewed as the last straw. Simmons sat out the entire 2021-22 season due to mental issues and, after the trade, a back injury that required offseason microdiscectomy surgery.
Now that Simmons appears to be close to full strength, the point of my tweet wasn’t to suggest that Simmons has made massive improvements in such a major flaw in his game, but that such limitations weren’t dragging down Brooklyn’s offensive performance to the degree many (including me) expected.
The Nets are rolling, winning 14 of their last 15 games. You can credit the awesomeness of Brooklyn’s stars and new Head Coach Jacque Vaughn’s simplification/solidification of roles, including allowing Simmons to flourish by focusing on his strengths. Simmons seems happy as a connector who keeps the ball moving rather than worrying about being the face of the franchise. In Philadelphia, I heard that there was always off-court angst, amplified by agents. between him and All-Star center Joel Embiid as to whose team it was. In Brooklyn, there isn’t a debate—everyone knows this is KD’s team, with Kyrie perfectly cast (well, until the next time he goes off the rails to create more stretches where he doesn’t have to play games) as the 1B option. There hasn’t been any visible signs of pouting or moodiness from Simmons, even when he has a subpar game.
It might be an indication of the 26-year old’s maturity. To me, he always came across on the surface as a self-absorbed and entitled athlete who didn’t deign to improve his game like the great ones typically do—whoever signed off on that Showtime documentary for Simmons’ one-and-done season at LSU did him no favors in that regard.
In Brooklyn, though, it has seemed like Simmons has been willing to go the extra mile to fit in, possibly viewing this (and I’d agree he wouldn’t be wrong) as a unique opportunity to update his narrative. He may be under contract for another two seasons after this for approximately $78 million, but I doubt that he wants failure to be his legacy.
That isn’t to dismiss the ongoing concerns, such as the aforementioned risk when Simmons is tasked with more physical assignments and rim protection duties as the de facto five. He’s not going to suddenly fix his stroke either, so when the Nets, who now sit in second place in the East at 23-12, enter the postseason, a good coach will adjust schemes to more effectively neutralize Durant and Irving, especially when Simmons shares the court with non-shooting center Nic Claxton. The Nets outscored Atlanta, 42-33, in the 18 minutes the duo clogged the paint to run their season total to plus-13, but regular season action is far from a playoff environment.
And then there is still the matter of a possible mental block. Simmons’ aggressiveness clearly wanes as each game progresses. Here are his numbers by quarter after he scored eight of his 10 points in Wednesday’s first half:
First quarter: 30-for-55 (54.5%) from the floor, 5-for-11 (45.5%) from the line, in 180 minutes
Second quarter: 28-for-46 (60.9% from the floor, 3-for-7 (42.9%) from the line, in 180 minutes
Third quarter: 28-for-41 68.3%) from the floor, 3-for-11 (27.3%) from the line, in 176 minutes
Fourth quarter: 9-for-15 (60%) from the floor, 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the line, in 143 minutes
OT: No shots or free throw attempts in five minutes
Though the Nets were comfortably ahead at the time, I got bad vibes when Simmons passed up an open look in the paint during the second half of Monday’s 125-117 victory in Cleveland, turning the ball over. What’s going to happen if Simmons is faced with being on the receiving end of a series of intentional fouls in big spots? Will he turtle into a shell like the perception in Philadelphia, making him unplayable?
So far, there is enormously less pressure on Simmons to deliver in clutch moments because of the presence of Irving and Durant, who are ranked first and 25th, respectively (and that’s only because KD typically rests at the start of the period) in the league in fourth quarter points per game. As such, Simmons can continue to do what he does best—defend, rebound, push the pace, and dish dimes to open shooters behind the three-point line.
That might not be good enough for some people who want to hold Simmons to a higher standard as a former No. 1 overall pick, but it’s exactly what the Nets have needed in this moment.