Brett Brown expounded upon his plans for Ben Simmons during an appearance on Adrian Wojnarowski's podcast.
The Philadelphia 76ers plan on using Simmons as their point guard though the offseason could change the equation. Philadelphia could be in position to draft either Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball.
"So let’s pretend that the draft isn’t gonna happen, and let’s pretend that we’re not gonna seek a high-level free agent as it relates to point guards," said Brown on the podcast. "So when you look at the flexibility we have, we’ve never been more in a position of strength as it relates to truly chasing a legit free agent. Because we’re not poor, we have money that we can use. We’re now gonna be learning a lot more in May when the ping-pong balls drop of where we fall into the lottery order. But if you just sorta zoom in on Ben — and I’ve known his mom and dad before they were married, I’ve known all of his coaches in very close ways that coached him when he was 8 years old and 12 years old and 14 — I’m in a very sort of unusual position given my history with Australian basketball where you can really study it. Then you go back and you study him in high school in Miami and really study his rent-a-year at LSU, he just comes in, he plays for a season, then boom, straight to the NBA.
"It is undeniable that — and I see it with my own son — when the ball goes in a basket or whatever, you know, when you look at young players, there’s always two or three people who come back who want to be the point guard," continued Brown. "He’s done that his whole life. He wants the ball, and he has a complete passion to pass. So if you just take those two qualities, and forget how big he is, then you say well the starting point is interesting if you wanna try to say, “well, you’re a point guard.” Because all of a sudden somebody else comes in and says, “well now he’s 6’10”.” It gives people pause. If we said he had those qualities and he’s 6’4”, you might not think too much about if he’s a point guard or not. So that I feel that it would be not wise if we don’t consider him to be that, and I’m committed to trying this. I think we could all walk back out of this, led by me, and say, “you know what, it’s a challenge, but I’m not gonna backpedal quickly.”
"When I say “point guard,” I mean “point guard.” You know, who takes the ball out of bounds, who receives the ball when the ball goes in the basket, who brings it up the floor after a free throw. I’m not talking about Draymond, I’m not talking about LeBron, you know, I’m talking about a point guard. And so I intend on trying this. You always get into conversations, “well that’s fine, who does he guard?” I don’t see him guarding the opposition’s point guard. It could end up he guards who guards him, so you’re not cross-matched in transition defense. Having said that, I expect that other teams aren’t gonna go put Chris Paul on Ben Simmons, or Isaiah Thomas on Ben Simmons. And so I feel like it’s gonna be interesting, it is a challenge, it is ambitious. But my starting point is where I end up, he’s got a quality that he wants the ball and he loves to pass. And so we’re gonna persevere, and see where this plays out."
