SIMMONS IS NOT LIKE LEBRON.
People need to stop with that comparison. It's lazy. It's just hyping Simmons. He doesn't play like Lebron. He's not as athletic as Lebron. The fact that he's big and he can pass, and that he crashes the lane, is where you can make the comparison.
Lebron was always a wing - heck, he could have played SG when he came into the league. He moves like a wing. He's evolved into a combo forward because he's now 31 years old, rather than 19. He can still guard 1-4 and some 5s.
Simmons comes in as a 3/4 tweaner - along the lines of Luol Deng, Thadeus Young, Jabari Parker, Michael Beasley, Josh Smith, Blake Griffin and Giannis. But unlike Giannis (and unlike Lebron), Simmons can't guard 1-4... he can guard 3's and 4's, and some 5's.
He's not nearly quick enough or athletic enough to guard 1's or 2's on the regular. Zone can help some, but he also lacks the length you'd want to sort of "overcompensate" for lack of quick feet.
Ericb5 wrote:sixers23 wrote:05PhillyAI wrote:Anyone who is dead red that the Sixers are taking Simmons have something coming. Unless Colangelo is planning on trading Saric and Okafor/Noel, Simmons doesn't make nearly as much sense as Ingram. The argument that "all they will need is shooters to surround Simmons" is partially true but it's not that easy to do so. Shooting is at a premium in the league right now and the teams who have true shooters aren't going to get rid of them unless a team overpays them. Would Play Thompson look awesome next to Simmons? F yea. Just not realistic. Ingram is going to be one of the best scorers in the NBA during his tenure. He needs to be the pick.
you dont get the number 1 pick and draft for fit. simmons play a position we have zero current players at anyway
Point forward is a position that most teams don't have simply because it is the rare player that can do it.
Simmons isn't a small forward, and he isn't a power forward. He is a point forward. He is more like Lebron than any other player in the league.
The real question becomes which position does he defend. I don't see any reason why he can't guard the 3 most of the time. If he can't then Okafor definitely needs to be traded.
My problems with Okafor are that I don't know how well he will be able to guard the 4, and obviously he can't guard the 3. Ideally you would pair Simmons with another forward that can guard both spots, and shoot a bit. I'm not closing the door on Okafor's ability to shoot though.
Okafor already has pressure on him due to needing to fit with Embiid. Adding Simmons to the mix just increases that pressure, but it doesn't mean that it can't work.
The guards would both have to be good shooters though.
