shrink wrote:younggunsmn wrote:shrink wrote:While their situations are similar, I don’t think Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons have anything similar between the ears.
Jimmy came into the NBA as the 30th pick, and road the bench for two years in Chicago before he even got major minutes. Simmons was drafted 1st, and has had every opportunity given to him.
Jimmy worked his tail off to improve his game. Simmons has the same flaws he did when he came in - they are probably worse than ever,
Jimmy wanted the ball in his hands for the last shot, no matter how many times he failed at it. Simmons passes up dunks, and has never been good in pressure situations,
Simmons and Butler are very much the same type of player, defense is their bread and butter, efficient from the field due to ability to score inside despite not being great shooters. You seem to be going out of your way to drone on about Simmons flaws without mentioning his strengths, which are unique and many. The metrics paint a very different picture than what you would have us believe.
You seem to be building a strawman around one failed playoff series to measure his entire career..
I find this argument completely untrue, a desperate hand-wave to try to dismiss problems that Simmons has had for a long time, and have reached a head lately. There is nothing in my post that focuses on “one failed playoff series,” and I find it insulting that you are making this claim.
In fact, my position has always been
shrink wrote:He’s on a max deal, and carries these major, major issues.
1. Shooting is horrible. Defenses can pack the middle to remove KAT’s biggest advantage and crowd Edwards drives.
2. He’s a young player who flat out hasn’t improved. Can he?
3. Confidence. Unwillingness to shoot. Wilts in pressure situations. Now says his head isn’t ready to play.
4. What if you trade assets for him and he gets unhappy? Others ignore PHI behavior - he’s shown he won’t live up to his contract.
People were complaining about his shooting, his lack of development, etc,
long before “one failed playoff series.”
2. Moreover, what “metrics” are you talking about that measure what is “going on between his ears.” If you need metrics for observable behaviors, I can easily produce them for the first three problems I listed, and the Sixers are living #4. Can you tell me what “metrics tell a different story,” from anything I’ve posted?
3. Finally, the fact that Jimmy and Ben both are good defensively does not mean they have similar mentalities. Nor does the fact that DLo, like Ben, hasn’t improved means that Jimmy didn’t improve and that’s a pretty glaring difference between Ben and Jimmy.
Cmon Shrink, you are a better poster than this, it's disappointing to see you double down and re hash the same arguments over and over with anyone who will engage with you.
1. Simmons is an elite player RIGHT NOW. Actual STATISTICAL METRICS over a 4 year sample size, not subjective fan assessments of SImmons mental state, say he is an absolute difference maker defensively, and a plus player on the offensive end, despite not shooting 3-pointers and having Embiid suck up all the painted area he needs to score in.
2. His teams have consistently won at an elite level, and he has undeniably been a big part of that.
If he improved the way you think he should and became a passable 3 point and ft shooter he would be a perennial MVP candidate.
3. Your obsession with SImmons mental state is clouding your judgement. We all know the current situation is an arrangement that gives SImmons cover to keep collecting his checks and Morey time to find more suitors (when players who signed in the offseason become eligible in december.
Before the rift caused by and during that Atlanta playoff series, this guy was untouchable for anything less than a superstar.
And judging by Morey's recent actions, probably still is.
The GM and owner of his team still value him so much they are willing to take the distractions and bad publicity on the slim chance they can bring him back into the fold.
4. You completely ignore my point that this situation is about clashing personalities more than anything else.
Simmons is more of an introvert and his coach and superstar teammate are the polar opposite.
If you made the argument that adding a 3rd beta to KAT and Russell is not a good idea because a champion needs at least one alpha, I'd consider the point. But you are making pre-emptive arguments about him getting unhappy and leaving and wasted assets, not about his fit with our star players.
However, after that absolute trainwreck tonight, its pretty clear all of our assets outside of KAT and ANT and future draft picks are either extremely weak or outright garbage, and my feeling on the possibility of us acquiring him has gone from maybe a 15% chance down to about 3%.
