It is always disappointing to see the brightest flames get snuffed out too soon, and while Ben Simmons might not be exempt of fault in his career decline, he certainly is not the only factor for it. Hampered by massive injuries, a seeming desire to not work on his game, and being made public enemy number one by one of the largest fan bases in the game, Simmons has been a wholly unreliable late-round flier for many years now. However, the tides do seem to be changing in Brooklyn for the time being, and Simmons can serve as a great playmaker on an otherwise depleted roster incapable of running an NBA level offense.
Last Passer Standing
From the second Simmons stepped foot on an NBA court it was obvious to all that he was a natural born passer. Often compared to Magic Johnson or LeBron James in the earlier stages of his career, Simmons still retains the passing ability that made him so favorably viewed by the entire league. Following the loss of Dennis Schroder from the Nets roster, Simmons remains the only viable offensive hub should the team wish to remain even moderately competitive.
The numbers also back up his incredibly important role in the Brooklyn offensive scheme. Simmons generates an incredible amount of assists for this team, even when considering minutes limitations that he has been facing for the entirety of the year so far. He has been averaging 6.8 assists per game in only 25 minutes on the season to date, with that number taking a jump up to 8.7 over the course of the last week. He carries a Z-Score of 1.41 for the category so far, with plenty of room to improve should he maintain an increased role in the Brooklyn offense.
Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez is also very clearly in the know about the current limitations of his squad should he elect to sit Simmons. Fernandez has seemingly done away with the minutes restrictions that have held Simmons back on the season so far, electing to play the veteran upwards of 30 minutes in the four games since Schroder was moved. In my opinion, these minutes are to be expected going forward (unless Simmons gets hurt again, which is not entirely unlikely), as he has remained one of the top plus/minus contributors to the new starting unit, generally only behind Dorian Finney-Smith.
It is also of note that no other Net left on the roster averages over 3.5 assists per game, with Cam Thomas now expected to take the secondary playmaker role on the team when viewing his 3.4 assists per game. This serves as another really great omen for Simmons, as any offense based around the playmaking ability of Cam Thomas would make a team like the Wizards look elite by comparison.
The Swiss Army Knife
Besides the complete lack of ability to score nowadays, Simmons’ most glaring post-injury change has come with his positional designation on the court. In his prime, Simmons was one of the few players capable of guarding all five positions on the court with his massive size and athleticism, nearly earning him a Defensive Player of the Year nod along the way.
Once a dynamic point guard capable of punishing teams with his incredible speed, Simmons has instead become a screen setting mobile big man for the Nets capable of creating offensive looks out of the high post. He has only recently been shifted back to being a point guard in name following the loss of Schroder, but the versatility he has on the floor is unmatched, highlighted by the unheard of Point Guard/Center positional designation given to him by Yahoo.
His unique skill set gives him an edge for those in fantasy setting, as he is capable of giving big man stats in your guard spot or vice versa, being able to provide valuable out of position assists as a center. While he fails to bring anything particularly elite to the table from a fantasy perspective, getting .5 blocks per game from a player with point guard eligibility is nothing to scoff at. His defensive stats hover right around average for players commonly found on the wire, however as is the theme with most of this segment, when given a lens of context around his positional eligibility, he becomes a viable back end player capable of fitting certain builds nicely.
Simmons also is notably one of the best rebounding point guards in the league. His 5.3 rebounds a night would place him inside the top ten of point guards across the NBA. While this number might drop as he gradually plays less in the paint on defense, his 6’10” height will almost always give him the edge over most players in the league in that aspect.
He also generates incredible field goal percentage for a point guard given that he is often placed squarely in the paint when scoring (still no threes yet, maybe next year), sitting at 58% for the season so far. This is his second best category, and when compared to other point guards, he actually leads the league with this number.
Verdict
While the time that Ben Simmons has had as a fantasy gem has long since passed, he still remains a unique player based purely off of his versatility. He is without doubt a negative to those builds not properly constructed to handle his negatives. However, should you be in a position where you are punting points or threes, his viability jumps significantly.
Combine that with the near center-like stats that he will provide at his point guard eligibility, while also generating the assist numbers of a primary playmaker, and Simmons does have the potential to be an invaluable piece to managers and is completely unique for a wire candidate.
Players with his proven upside do not often sit on the wire for long when given the chance, and this is only magnified should you be in a points league, where his value becomes even greater. All managers should be keeping a watchful eye on Simmons, as it takes a lot for a primary ball handler to be unusable in a fantasy setting.