Shams - Philly offered Simmons/Thybulle + draft compensation. Did we make the right deal?

Simmons is shooting 5-20 from the free throw line so far in these playoffs

 

That time of the year where the fans who ignore the importance of shooting go into hiding.

They'll be back when he's posting good numbers again for one game or next season in easy regular season games.

You'd think Rockets fans will have learned their lesson from Howard and Westbrook drowning us.

The far worse part is that he doesn't even try to take 3's. What a nightmare asset to eat up 30% of your cap at the start of a rebuild.

Thank god we declined. Morey will trade him this summer imo, and everyone will be amazed at how a "lesser" player can have a greater impact on the floor. Don't act surprised when it happens.

 

So let me get this straight, OKC or the Wolves are trading a top 3 pick for Ben freaking Simmons?

I didn't realize Bill O'Brien had been brought on to the Thunder front office.

 

Exactly. Guys like D-Rock who spent ALL year hyping up Ben Simmons won't defend his horrific shooting. THIS is the guy you wanted to build your franchise around? 5-20 from the FT line? 0-76 from 3's? The playoffs exposes alot of these dumb azzes

 

Simmons would be great if it came with Embiid. Simmons by himself is some sorta flawed swiss army knife defensive player that you can't build around.

I like how the argument for getting Simmons is that we can flip him for picks, that just sounds the the Nets package with extra steps.

 

I liked the Philly package, but now I realize it was a mistake. His shooting mechanics aren't bad, but he is unwilling to improve.

 

My issues was always how little progress he has really made in his young career. He has hardly added to his game.

Don't get me wrong, the guy is going to be a great role player and a lesser star as long as he isn't the 1st or 2nd option, but man, trading Harden for him would of been a huge mistake IMO. I warmed up to the idea at some point just because the market for Harden wasn't there, but man I rather have the picks. Of course, hindsight will be 20/20 and if those picks never amount to anything, I'll be pissed lol.

 

And his coach gassing him up by telling the media that (and I'm paraphrasing) "Ben doesn't have to score 40 to impact the game; he does a lot of other things well!" doesn't help either. Like, Ben is your second best player, Doc--he needs to be able to WANT to score if Embiid is out. Facilitating to Harris, Thybulle, Curry, etc is cute and all but Simmons needed to put the team on his back.

As for the trade itself...I honestly would have done it just so I could have moved Simmons to another team for more picks and/or young talent.

 

A play maker who can't shoot is a huge handicap.

Simmons is so good at everything else, he would have kept us out of the tankathon but would never make us a great team unless we could get a dominant scorer (not just a great shooter).

 

It makes no sense. Like if GSW wanted to give up a bunch of assets like the Wolves pick, Wiseman and some unprotected future firsts/swaps to get Simmons (lol at Draymond and Simmons together btw) then they could have gotten in the middle of our Harden trade.

 

Max player that was getting the "hack-a" treatment at the end of a playoff game.

 

Yes.

A very tempting player because his defense is just so good, and his passing and rebounding...... but he just cannot shoot and won't shoot.

 

I'm utterly baffled why he can't just hire a shooting coach and put in the required gym hours between seasons. It's not like shooting is a mysterious talent that only some people are capable of; it's a freakin' skill that can be learned. I mean, Simmons won't ever be Steph Curry, but if he could just hit 33% from 3, that would keep the defenses honest. And 70% from the free throw line should be doable.

Instead, he just shows up to camp year after year having NOT learned one of the key skills of his chosen profession. It's mind-boggling.

 

6'10'' westbrook and skinny Chuck Hayes. Would Eric Gordon have had fun?

 

So some of y'all want to pay oversized Rajon Rondo $40 Mil a year?

 

I mean. Dude can’t shoot but you are absolutely missing what he does so well if that’s all you are going to judge him on. This is not a Westbrook out there ruining an offense, playing awful defense and making countless boneheaded decisions.

Playoff rankings in my 3 favorite catch all stats (what I believe to be the most informative and accurate)

538 RAPTOR ranks him 10th overall

Basketball reference WS/48.... 9th overall

NBAMath’s total points added/saved has him as 14th overall

I said it before any trade was made and I believe it to be the same today. Ben Simmons is very likely the best(most valuable) asset we could have expected to get in the Harden deal.

I understand completely why we chose a different path. Tanking and putting our money on picks is just as viable a path,if not more, to eventual contention than a Simmons trade might have been.

But the piling on for his inability to shoot seems to have completely made some overlook just how damn good he is in just about every other facet of basketball.

 

Shooting is a "mysterious talent" -- kind of. Not everyone is born with shooting touch. Steph Curry isn't just working harder than everyone else in practicing shooting. Shooting touch is a talent, just like a lot of other skills in sports. It's a combination of training and inborn talent.

What we don't know is how much is Simmons working on his shooting. I can't believe that he is too lazy to do it or too dumb to recognize its importance. Maybe he just doesn't have the shooting touch needed for that level of basketball. Or maybe he has some kind of mental block that prevents him from even attempting to improve.

 

Shooting 33% from the NBA 3 point line during the flow of an NBA game is not a skill any human can just learn with enough practice.

Kevin O'Connor has also forever maintained that Simmons shoots with the wrong hand.

 

The one player/example I bring up a lot when it comes to shooting is Tony Parker. Coming into the league Parker had a suspect shot that got corrected by Chip Engelland and became one of the best midrange shooters. It's basically all about want--Tony wanted to improve whereas Simmons, even publicly, stated he doesn't want to work on his shot.

That's what separates the HOFers/elites from the coulda/woulda/shouldas--the HOFers/elites are always trying to get better and add to their game whereas the coulda/woulda/shouldas are just content with their god-given talent and don't feel like they need to get better.