lilfishi22 wrote:As in give the guy a ball and create a shot for himself or for the team? Draymond has never been afraid to to score if the opportunity is there and in particular, down the stretch. Maybe some shots are better left for Steph, Klay or KD but he's not afraid to shoot the damn thing if he's open or if he's down on the block. I totally get that Simmons in Draymond's position with Klay, KD, Steph next to him would diminish need for offense from him compared with the Sixers where he really does need to do more than 5 FGA in the 4th quarter the entire playoffs. That said, if Draymond was in Simmon's position with the Sixers, I think it's a different story. The different is that I still think he's a drop off from what Dray gives you because he's exploitable unlike Draymond where given the wide open 3PT shot, he could hit a few and he's solid at the FT line. I do think putting shooters and spacing around Simmons is the best way to really show off his talent, in the same way surrounding Draymond did it for him.
On the point about Giannis, the reason why Giannis is in a different league than Simmons despite having similar weaknesses (limited range, iffy FT shooter) is because he's not afraid to put the team on his back and shoot a shot if he's open or force double teams down low when he gets down there or put himself in a position to get to the line even though he's shooting a hair over 50%. FWIW, Giannis did shoot something like 32% from range the past two playoffs so he's not completely leave-able out there. Simmons not shooting really is a massive exploitable weakness especially in playoffs. He's gotta change something
Draymond averages 8.8 points per game in his career and averaged 8 points on 49 TS% when he needed to contribute more without Curry and Klay last year. He can shoot, the opposing team is just usually happy to see it when he does. He's an excellent playmaker and has some really high points in his career, I just don't think he's much of a scorer.
I get where you're coming from with Giannis and don't disagree, but Giannis is also the undisputed leader of that team while Embiid is the man in Philly. Giannis shooting 32% from 3 doesn't mean much, it's much worse than any other shot he would normally take and teams will continue to leave him open out there until it's not a low efficiency for him. I guess I have a certain level of appreciation for Simmons being more of a pass-first player, but I agree that he can't shoot this poorly, especially from the line, and expect to win anything significant.
