The Sixers Plan To Play Ben Simmons As Their Full Time Point Guard When He Gets Healthy

CSN PHILLY – Looks like you can drop “forward” from “point-forward.”

Brett Brown plans to use Ben Simmons as the Sixers‘ point guard when the 6-foot-10 rookie returns from a right acute Jones fracture which has sidelined him this season.

While there have been no updates on when Simmons will be cleared to play, Brown has seen enough during his rehab to believe he can succeed at the one-spot on both ends of the court.

“I think it is a hundred percent me realizing what we have,” Brown said Thursday after practice. “Understanding that Jerryd Bayless could comfortably play a two, to talking with Ben more, to understanding the opportunity that we have to try this and to grow this. This is something that I’d think would be a mistake if we didn’t try it. I think the more I studied him and studied film and talked with him — I spent a lot of time with him since his injury — the more comfortable I feel, like this is the right path.”

To me there could be some cloaked reasoning behind why this information would come out. Either a) that there is no good news on the Ben Simmons front so the PR team concocted an exciting press angle or b) the Sixers are getting low balled on trade offers for their big men, as teams know that Philly has to trade at least one big man. Maybe, by saying Simmons is a point guard, it makes it seem to other teams that we value our bigs more, and thus will demand more of a return for them. Because the fact that there is no timetable news is a little disconcerting. Though Simmons has been making entry passes from a folding chair, it’s not exactly the optimum situation.

It makes the Sixers next few moves very interesting, because we thought we thought we were set at the 4 and the 5 and needed help at the 1,2 and 3. Now it seems we are set at the 1,5, and maybe the 4? And we just need some complimentary long term wings? While the NCAA season is young and the Lakers are playing well, the Sixers should still have a shot at some top talent. Some of the names that are looking intriguing early in the season are UW’s Markelle Fultz, Kansas’s Josh Jackson or UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. Lets take a look at some of their highlights early in the season.

Fultz

Jackson

Ball

It will be interesting to see how Simmons fit on the team as a point guard, because that will dictate what kind of player we draft. If he’s more of a distributor, someone who can put up huge scoring numbers like Fultz might make more sense. If he’s more of a scorer, someone who can get the rock to him and Embiid like Ball might be the answer.

Last night I got to watch Giannis Antetokounmpo run the point for the Bucks against the Nets. His length has made him impossible to tame when he’s driving. If Simmons can generate some 23, 8 and 8 stat lines of his own, I will be a very happy fan.