Although Ben hasn’t been in public for months, people keep talking about him here.
Even in his worst season last year, with an injured back, [Simmons was still ranked as the 143rd-best player in the league last season, according to stats](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eC5he67RBWiclITXY6OdR3qCz_fnL3-r5AJkgEh45hQ/edit#gid=702171522). If this is the worst we’ll ever see of Simmons, it’s a lot better than most “busts” in the NBA.
In addition, even in a shell of his former self, Simmons was still one of the few players in the league last season to average six assists and six rebounds a game, with elite-level impact on the defensive end of the floor. If Simmons hadn’t been forced to sit for the rest of the season due to his injury, he probably should have made an All-Defensive team appearance.
[ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM ESTIMATES from the LEBRON Database](https://preview.redd.it/2v6d4tjbv4db1.png?width=1557&format=png&auto=webp&s=b55469e2412d28419816da097e75918ab756dd48)
In addition, Simmons’s passing ability should allow him to take more pressure off of Dinwiddie.
I’m not expecting Simmons to start making threes all of a sudden. Still, it’s time for people to accept Simmons for who he is as a player: a highly flawed player who is elite on defense but average on offense, an overpaid role player who has limited but highly effective use.
I don’t know why everyone assumes that Simmons won’t improve when he was injured all of last season.
And even if he never does, he’s still an instrumental player.
by Stock-Astronomer2709
