Ben Simmons Looks Ready to Take The Next Step

We are a week away from the Sixers taking the court for the first time in Orlando. Their first scrimmage game is going to have a lot of eyes on it, as it will be the debut of the new-look Sixers. This will also be the debut of Ben Simmons starting not at the point guard position. 

Along with a new position, all eyes are going to be on him to see if his game will grow in this new role. Moving away from the ball will put Simmons in more situations to be a scorer rather than a facilitator. It will be interesting to see if we see a new level of aggressiveness to score the ball as Simmons does less facilitating.

This move can be extremely beneficial for Simmons to add new weapons to his game and show how versatile of a player he really can be. The question is if Simmons is ready to take his game to the next level, and a lot of signs point towards yes.

Since Brett Brown broke the news to the media he and other members on the team have raved about Simmons’ play as a point forward. Brown has said that he has moved Simmons all over the floor and using him in a variety of ways in practice. Teammates like Shake Milton have also praised Simmons and the work he has been putting in.

Not only have the people around the team bought into this idea, but Simmons himself has endorsed it as well. When asked about the change Simmons is very open to it and has said that he has enjoyed playing in a new role. Simmons’ embracing this change and understanding what it can do for himself and the team is crucial if this is going to thrive.

Although we have seen it before, it looks like Simmons is also ready to expand his game outside of the paint. Adding a jumpshot has been the missing piece to his game, and he looks ready to start trying them more in games.

Multiple videos have been released from the Sixers and Simmons of him working on his jumpshot and potentially adding a floater to his game. Although we have been fooled by videos in the past, the talk regarding his jumper seems much convincing.

On Thursday Brett Brown spoke on Simmons willingness to shoot in practice. He would go on to say that he has seen Simmons shoot more threes in practice since the team arrived in Orlando than close to half a season in prior years.

Simmons has had many critics in the past that his game has not grown much since arriving in the NBA, and now he looks ready to silence those doubters. We have no idea what to expect when this team takes the floor, but there is no denying that Simmons looks mentally and physically ready to take his game to new heights.

If Simmons can add new levels to his game on offense to pair with how great of a defender he became this season he will become quite the threat. Sixers fans should be very excited for the potentially new Ben Simmons we are about to see in Orlando.

Kevin McCormick is the 76ers insider for 97.3 ESPN and 76ers editor for Sportstalkphilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMcC973.