NBA
Scouting Ben Simmons

As Ben Simmons warms up before an eventual win against the Jazz on Tuesday, the 76ersβ fifth straight at the time, nothing about a fairly standard group of observers stands out. Simmons is a star in the making, but heβs still a long way from drawing the kind of four-figure crowds that supernovas like Steph Curry and LeBron James regularly attract just to watch them put up jumpers hours before tip-off.
The keen eye, though, would have noticed a couple telling differences from a standard visiting player warmup. It would have picked up Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey, not usually visible at times like these, taking in Simmonsβ warmup from a second-row chair. It would have noticed a couple visiting scouts, neither of whom work for the Jazz or 76ers, watching intently from the baseline. Were any of these parties necessarily on the court just for Simmons? Probably not, but you can damn well bet theyβre going to watch when they can.
Even among these kinds of league people, Simmons is just emerging from a curious shroud of basketball mystery that isnβt common for first overall picks.
His pre-college days were mostly a highlight reel punctuated by occasional stops at national events like the McDonalds All-American game and the Nike Hoops Summit β talent evaluators can get a lot from these gatherings, but Simmonsβ unique qualities and a, shall we say, limited commitment to the defensive side of the ball made parsing the details tougher. His year at LSU was much of the same, and the Tigersβ failure to make the NCAA tournament meant he only played a handful of games against prospects anywhere near his level. Then he missed his entire rookie season in the NBA.
So now, at 21 years old, itβs no surprise even top league thinkers with access to the best scouting data available are still craning for a look at Simmons. The kid is dominating NBA athletes night in and night out, and the league is still trying to figure out just what in the world he actually is as a basketball player.
If thereβs one person who might know, itβs 6ers coach Brett Brown. Brown coached Simmonsβ father, Dave, a generation ago. βThat [means] two things: Iβm really old, and the history and knowledge I have with his DNA and his gene pool and his background is strong,β Brown said with a laugh.
Combine that with more one-on-one time than anyone else on earth to this point, and he seems like the best guy to ask if you want to find out just what Ben Simmons is on a basketball court.
So thatβs exactly what Basketball Insiders did. Letβs scout out Ben Simmons the basketball player, with a few assists from Brown and one of his peers.
Handling and Distributing
His skills as a distributor have been Simmonsβ primary calling card ever since he showed up on NBA radars, and he was elite here from the moment he stepped on the court for his first regular season game.
No player in the NBA has thrown more nightly passes than Simmons. He ranks fifth in the entire league in potential assists per game, per SportVU data, trailing only Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, James Harden and John Wall (all stats are prior to Thursday nightβs games unless otherwise noted). Heβs also generating a top-10 figure in terms of secondary assists (βhockey assistsβ). The 76ersβ three-point percentage falls of a cliff when he sits compared to when he plays, this despite his own total lack of a three-point jumper.
Few players have ever entered the league with this level of passing skill; possibly none. It starts with a unique physical profile.
βYou talk about quarterbacks are born? Point guards are born,β Brown said. βYou take somebody thatβs 6-foot-10 and really is a willing passer and wants to pass, his vision lines are different than 6-foot point guards. And it just makes him unique with the ball.β
Simmons hit the genetic lottery no doubt, but itβs how he spends the proceeds that really defines his game. His understanding of angles and space is savant-like at this age. It often takes even the most gifted passers a while to re-calibrate to NBA speed and length; Simmons walked in as one of the best in the game instantly.
Does this pass, over the longest set of arms in league history attached to Utahβs Rudy Gobert, seem easy? Maybe it does if youβre only watching how casually Simmons serves it up on the run, but is sure isnβt.
Heβs quickly gotten in tune with the speed and spacing of NBA defenders, as well. He makes great use of his own body as a tool, and itβs uncommon to see players this age with this level of understanding about how their movements will affect defenders β even ones who are ostensibly multiple passes away from the central play.
Simmons looks like a seasoned vet with the way heβll throw his passes at unexpected times to keep help defenders a half-step off-balance. Most guys would take another step to gather energy for this cross-court dime; Simmons jumps a step early and crushes a Pistons rotation:
Heβs already anticipating defensive rotations to his drives, and easily has the strength to throw these kinds of high-difficulty skip passes.
Heβs generating nearly two assists per night just from drives to the basket, per Second Spectrum data. Among high-volume drivers, only LeBron turns the ball over less often: Simmons has committed just seven turnovers on 182 drives, a mind-blowing figure for a player ostensibly still adjusting to this pace β and even more impressive when you remember that every defense he faces is playing him to drive every time he has the ball.
To get at what really drives his ability to run as a 6-foot-10 point guard from his first NBA game, though, you have to look at an even more foundational skill: Simmonsβ handle. Jazz coach Quin Snyder described it best.
βThereβs not many guys that big that are able to handle the ball as effectively as he is against smaller guys,β Snyder said. βUsually a point guard can disrupt a bigger guy guarding the ball. Thereβs a lot of guys that can handle the ball, but itβs a three-man handling it against a three-man.
βIf you have a smaller guy on him, heβs capable of going into the post, he sees over him. If you have a bigger guy on him, his ball skills β both passing and dribbling β theyβre superior. I think itβs safe to say heβs one of the best passers in the league. And for his size, I donβt know that anybody handles the ball better.β
This is where we see one difference (among many) between Simmons and a player like Nikola Jokic, another all-world passer whoβs a lot bigger than most guys who get that designation. Jokic handles the ball better than most his size, but he can still be ripped by quicker hands; Simmons is running right at smaller guards and outright daring them to try and swipe away. Add in crazy acceleration and speed for his size, and youβve got a guy poised to be the most lethal passer since LeBron himself.
Defense, Rebounding and Transition
Much is made of Simmonsβ jumper as the ultimate test of his eventual ceiling, and thereβs no doubt itβs important (more on this in a bit). To hear Brown speak about it, though, the way he defends and rebounds the ball could be even more vital. Brown knows what kind of ceiling there is in his DNA, after all.
βHis dad competed β he was from Harlem, New York City,β Brown said. βHe could have been a linebacker, he could have been a prizefighter. He chose to play basketball. And I see the world through that lens [with Ben].β
Itβs a constant task for Brown to stay on Simmons defensively. He readily admits the huge minutes and role heβs placed on his rookie contribute to the possessions Simmons will take off on this end from time to time, though eventually that will be on Simmons himself to eliminate.
He did that basically every possession at LSU, though, and those worried that this would be the case at the next level can mostly rest easy. Heβs no worse than other high-volume handlers who occasionally take a rest on defense; his combination of IQ and physical skills make up a lot of ground when he lags behind, though one worries about developing negative habits.
But when heβs locked in, he might have one of the highest defensive ceilings in the league among young guys. Look at the raw ground he covers to block a thoroughly unsuspecting Raul Neto:
Itβs not just physical feats, either. The best examples of his defensive ceiling come when he combines these with his high-level basketball IQ.
Watch Simmons for this entire defensive possession (he starts out in the lower middle of your screen):
Thatβs scary intelligence, man. Look at how Simmons is positioned when Ricky Rubio starts his fateful drive:
Heβs not even facing him! Somehow, though, he has the presence of mind to abandon his man in an instant. Simmons even goes for a flat-footed reach-in, probably not a great idea:
Does any of that matter? Nope. The jets are back on when he needs them.
βI think he can be elite. I think that itβs easier for him to be elite defensively than [it has been for him] offensively,β Brown said. βWhen he puts his mind to it, and he sits in a stance, and heβs a 6-ten β and he is 6-foot-10 β athlete with a wingspan and hands and athleticism, [plus] the quickness that he has. Thatβs a gamechanger. And thatβs a multi-purpose defender.β
Quietly, though, Simmonsβ greatest strength in a skill profile chock full of them might be his rebounding.
Consider Russell Westbrook, who at one point during his historic triple-double season became the subject of a curious debate. As the year went on, it became clear that Westbrookβs Thunder teammates were taking every opportunity they could to βgiftβ him rebounds β that is, to box out their man but do nothing else, allowing Russ to swoop in and grab the board uncontested. As the thinking goes, the idea was to pad Westbrookβs rebounding stats and let him chase history.
Thereβs no question this was part of the tactic, but it also served another, more legitimate purpose: Getting the ball in Westbrookβs hands sooner. As one of the preeminent transition threats in the league, it absolutely suits Westbrook to have the ball as soon as possible after an opponent miss β more time to catch the defense running back and find some easy points.
Simmons, on the other hand, is 6-foot-10. He doesnβt need any box-out help to approach double-digit rebounds per night. The 76ersβ rebounding percentage plummets from a robust 53.7 percent when Simmons plays to an ugly 48.1 percent when he sits β the former would be a top-five figure in the league, while the latter would be a bottom-10 mark.
This was what stuck out to multiple scouts during the draft scouting process, even more than his insane physical skill or his remarkable passing IQ. When asked about his first impressions of Simmons pre-draft, one Western Conference executive simply raised his hands over his head to mimic a rebound. Simmons is already a fearsome transition presence; the 76ers are scoring a ridiculous 1.78 points per-possession on his transition sequences (including passes), per Synergy Sports, in the league’s 94th percentile. Having the ball in his hands right away after as many misses as possible just cuts out a middle-man that slows him down.
And from there, itβs mismatch heaven. Simmons is often guarding different guys than those who are checking him on the other end, and teams are scrambling to get in his way before itβs too late.
βSometimes the mismatch looks like itβs a mismatch on Simmons, and itβs really a mismatch somewhere else as well,β Snyder said.
Hereβs what heβs talking about: Look at the panic Simmons induces as he barrels into the frontcourt after a miss.
Letβs pause things again and take a look at just how jumbled Simmons can make a retreating defense. As he crosses midcourt, all five Pacers players on the floor are singularly fixated on him β and therefore not on J.J. Redick, one of the best three-point shooters in league history, standing wide open a simple pass away:
All of this is unlocked by Simmonsβ rebounding. The faster he has the ball in his hands, the faster he can create this kind of chaos β and nothing is faster than just getting it yourself. It wonβt ever get the play that his passing or his developing jumper do, but itβs just as important to his success.
Scoring
Yes, Simmonsβ jumper is a bit broken. He probably is using the wrong hand; this is something thatβs been covered ad nauseam, perhaps best so to this eye by The Ringerβs Kevin OβConnor. Itβs also an ongoing situation, one OβConnor continues to track.
And while thereβs no doubt a more reliable J could up his ceiling even further, thereβs mounting evidence that Simmons will be able to succeed even if it remains iffy. Simmons plays on his toes, both literally and figuratively β as an exercise, watch a stretch with him on the floor sometime and see how often the heels of his feet ever touch the ground when he has the ball.
He has an incredible first step for someone his size, but itβs the recognition and the way he uses it so early in his career that really stands out. Heβs being guarded here by Wesley Matthews, certainly not a slow guy; watch him wait patiently for Matthews to slightly alter his stance in anticipation of a ball screen, then use that microscopic window to blow by him for a dunk.
Simmons is already aware of what his size and length can mean, even when teams beg him to shoot jumpers. The 76ers will set picks crazy low for him, even nearly inside the paint sometimes, and heβs adept at using spins and other dribble moves to get himself a bit closer to the hoop.
Once heβs in the general range, heβs got a bit of early-career Blake Griffin in him. Simmons knows he can finish if heβs anywhere close β heβs shooting nearly 70 percent within three feet of the rim β so he simply bumps and contorts his way into the neighborhood, then figures the rest out later once heβs in the air.
******
The best part of everything weβve been over here? Thereβs still so much more to come. Simmons has skipped many of the hurdles guys at his experience level usually have to navigate; a βredshirtβ year, as Brown likes to call it, helped some, but thatβs far from covering it all. If Simmons can grow at a similar rate to what you expect from guys drafted in his range, his ceiling is almost limitless. The picture is already starting to come into focus.
There will be struggles. Good opponents will game plan for him and do a better job making him uncomfortable than anyone has so far. His effort level on defense definitely comes and goes, and that has to improve. But Simmons has already set such a high baseline that he’s got plenty of room for error.
βYou could see it,β Brown says. βBut how was it going to translate on an NBA court? And I see it clearly now. You wished and you hoped, but you didn’t know, and I feel like now I know.”