Australia’s Ben Simmons claims that he’s back and better than ever before, and he’s ready to make a statement in the NBA this season.
Philadelphia’s 2016 No.1 draft pick took to Instagram Tuesday to fire a warning shot to the competition ahead of the upcoming season.
Simmons believes he has benefited from ‘a year to learn, experience and develop (his) game to the point where (he’s) ready (to) grab this upcoming season by the throat.’
Simmons had a lot of hype surrounding him when he was selected number one overall in last year’s NBA draft out of LSU, but a series of injuries set back the progress of the prized recruit and he never saw the floor in 2016-17.
Rather than hindering his path to NBA stardom, Simmons thinks the year off has done wonders for his game.
“I would have killed the old me on the court’ he said
‘Philly it’s going to be a scary sight. let’s go!’
It’s exciting news for Australian fans but expectations need to be tempered, especially if history with this franchise is anything to go by.
Joel Embiid, the third selection back in 2015, also missed his rookie season through injury but returned last year on a severe minutes restriction. The star centre only averaged 25 minutes a game over his 31 played for the season but it makes sense for the 76ers to be extra careful with their superstars and it looks like the Aussie may get the same treatment.
When Simmons actually does make it onto the floor it’ll be interesting to see how head coach Brett Brown utilises him, especially since new draftee Markelle Fultz is a point guard.
Before the draft Brown was adamant that the Simmons point guard project would go ahead and confirmed on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast that Simmons had the mentality to be great in the NBA.
“He’s got a quality that he wants the ball and he loves to pass’
‘We’re gonna persevere and see where this plays out’
The implications of a 6'10" point guard are enormous for the league, as his height would create a major mismatch no matter how he lined up against.
Do you remember who the last point guard over 6’9 was?
Magic Johnson.
If Philadelphia are committed to this project, Ben Simmons has a chance to turn the game on its head the same way Magic did.
