Is Ben Simmons simply not talented enough to warrant the hype he's received?

[Eyeamok]

Clearly he hasn't looked good or even playable at times but Simmons is returning from injury which seems to not be discussed much.

His game was heavily reliant on athleticism which right now is not anywhere near where it was on the Sixers. Maybe he never returns athletically to the player he was but I think next year, after a full offseason and further time away from the injury, will be a better gauge of the caliber of player he is going to be.

Ok let's say returning from injury has slowed him down. Does that same injury force him to not even look at the basket, for the most part on offense? Does that same injury stop him from working on and improving his free throw shooting?

When Simmons wanted out of Philly one of the reasons cited was "He wanted his own team." There is no one on the current Nets roster with as much personal accolades and achievements as Ben Simmons. This Nets team is ripe for him to become the best version of himself and be it's leader. But do you know why it won't happen injured or not. It's because Ben Simmons is in a sweet spot. Play 20 minutes a game collect a big check and go home. He does not want that mantle of being a leader of having the spotlight on him. You don't believe me look at his history. Injured or not he is not that guy saying give me the ball guys. I'll make something happen win or lose. When the pressure is on he is more than happy to give the ball up and say "hey you do it!"

Next season if the Nets want Simmons to be an integral part of their team they are going to have to give him a prominent role without him proving anything. But it won't work because there are players on the Nets who will fight harder for playing time and the spot he would have been gifted. And Ben knows a cozy 20 minute a night low pressure spot exists for him on this roster. And he will be happy there.

[LordCovington33]

Clearly he hasn't looked good or even playable at times but Simmons is returning from injury which seems to not be discussed much.

His game was heavily reliant on athleticism which right now is not anywhere near where it was on the Sixers. Maybe he never returns athletically to the player he was but I think next year, after a full offseason and further time away from the injury, will be a better gauge of the caliber of player he is going to be.

Ok let's say returning from injury has slowed him down. Does that same injury force him to not even look at the basket, for the most part on offense? Does that same injury stop him from working on and improving his free throw shooting?

When Simmons wanted out of Philly one of the reasons cited was "He wanted his own team." There is no one on the current Nets roster with as much personal accolades and achievements as Ben Simmons. This Nets team is ripe for him to become the best version of himself and be it's leader. But do you know why it won't happen injured or not. It's because Ben Simmons is in a sweet spot. Play 20 minutes a game collect a big check and go home. He does not want that mantle of being a leader of having the spotlight on him. You don't believe me look at his history. Injured or not he is not that guy saying give me the ball guys. I'll make something happen win or lose. When the pressure is on he is more than happy to give the ball up and say "hey you do it!"

Next season if the Nets want Simmons to be an integral part of their team they are going to have to give him a prominent role without him proving anything. But it won't work because there are players on the Nets who will fight harder for playing time and the spot he would have been gifted. And Ben knows a cozy 20 minute a night low pressure spot exists for him on this roster. And he will be happy there.

But expect him to start playing really well when his contract is up for extension. Fool’s gold

[Crazy-Canuck]

Just crazy how simmons and wiggins career arc flipped at near the same time.

[Warriorfan]

Replace Green with Simmons on GS you might see championship level production

You need to go see someone to see if all your marbles are in working order

What veteran besides Ochre did not get better playing on the warriors. Passing and defense requisites met.

[BlackThought]

Never liked Ben Simmons.

I don't know how many gamers we have on this board but I compare Ben Simmons to an gaming item that is incredibly unbalanced. He is like an item that has one amazing high stat but lacks many other stats. The newbie gamers look at such an item and think it's good because of that high stat but the experienced gamers know that his lack of other stats make it impossible to have a viable build with such item. You only understand viable builds when you are an experienced gamer, a casual wouldn't understand it.

I see people go on and on about his defense and his 16/8/8 but the fact is you put him in the playoffs against a great team and his team will get schemed to death because they're fielding 4 guys on offense.

[Ballerhogger]

Im still trying figure out where hype came from.. to be honest.

[RoyceDa59]

He was always just a terrible shooter, but really good at everything else.

[cam24thomas]

Im still trying figure out where hype came from.. to be honest.

3-time All-Star, 2-time All-Defensive, 1-tme All-NBA, DPOY runner-up, steals champ.
He's achieved a lot in a short space of time, so very worthy of hype.
Playoffs:
.....Ben / Rondo / Draymond
PER - 17.6 / 17.8 / 16.3
TS% - .575% / .490 / .547%
USG% - 18.3% / 21.2% / 16.9%
TRB% - 12.5% / 9.7% / 14.2%
AST% - 31.5% / 42.2% / 24.4%
BPM - 3.4 / 3.6 / 4.4
WS/48 - .147 / .125 / .145

[ReddoverKobe]

Im still trying figure out where hype came from.. to be honest.

3-time All-Star, 2-time All-Defensive, 1-tme All-NBA, DPOY runner-up, steals champ.
He's achieved a lot in a short space of time, so very worthy of hype.
Playoffs:
.....Ben / Rondo / Draymond
PER - 17.6 / 17.8 / 16.3
TS% - .575% / .490 / .547%
USG% - 18.3% / 21.2% / 16.9%
TRB% - 12.5% / 9.7% / 14.2%
AST% - 31.5% / 42.2% / 24.4%
BPM - 3.4 / 3.6 / 4.4
WS/48 - .147 / .125 / .145

And they also call him Playoff Simmons! Oh wait, no, no that is not correct. It's playoff Rondo.

[Bum Adebayo]

Im still trying figure out where hype came from.. to be honest.

The hype came from his amazing talent, still true today, the fact that he decided he doesn't want to improve doesn't change that. His baseline talent was amazing, not only attitude but also being forced to shoot with the wrong hand when young stopped him from becoming the Top 5 player he should've really been.

[Skip2MY]

Dude seriously has PTSD

Was playing at an all star level and found out his brother(half brother) who’s also his manager and been with him throughout his college and basketball career had been r@ping his full blood sister throughout their childhood. Can anyone really understand the gravity of that situation??

Took some time off and took two steps back. I assume that Embid, Doc, and/or some combination of anyone on the team overstepped because what else would warrant a full blown public apology and request to come back and still be denied. They expected him to return to normal in two months and be ready for the playoffs.

After seeing the world turn on him why would he care about playing basketball when he can just check out and collect his money. He’s not gonna play good again until he’s happy and enjoying the game. Everyone keeps forgetting that he’s not from the states and culture is so different everywhere but here no one values anything but their home team winning. Y’all not gonna be happy until he jumps off a bridge and then wonder why 40/mil a year wasn’t enough to keep him sane.

[Phreak50]

Im still trying figure out where hype came from.. to be honest.

3-time All-Star, 2-time All-Defensive, 1-tme All-NBA, DPOY runner-up, steals champ.
He's achieved a lot in a short space of time, so very worthy of hype.
Playoffs:
.....Ben / Rondo / Draymond
PER - 17.6 / 17.8 / 16.3
TS% - .575% / .490 / .547%
USG% - 18.3% / 21.2% / 16.9%
TRB% - 12.5% / 9.7% / 14.2%
AST% - 31.5% / 42.2% / 24.4%
BPM - 3.4 / 3.6 / 4.4
WS/48 - .147 / .125 / .145

[Bum Adebayo]

Don't get me wrong ben10simmons, being talented has zero merit, so I was criticizing Simmons with my post, he has vastly underperformed relative to his talent, that is always a terrible thing.

[Ballerhogger]

Im still trying figure out where hype came from.. to be honest.

The hype came from his amazing talent, still true today, the fact that he decided he doesn't want to improve doesn't change that. His baseline talent was amazing, not only attitude but also being forced to shoot with the wrong hand when young stopped him from becoming the Top 5 player he should've really been.

Was he ever good at shooting at decent percentage ?