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Clippers to Sign Ben Simmons
Well, that didn’t take long – reports are already out that Ben Simmons will choose to sign with the Clippers after getting his buyout from the Nets this morning. The Clippers’ moves at the deadline – including clearing the roster spot Ben will fit into – are now truly complete.
Simmons is one of the more controversial players in the NBA, a player who shot onto the scene his first few years in the NBA and seemed like a sure-fire superstar in his early 20s. He made three All Star teams from 2019-2021 as well as earned an All-NBA Third Team selection in 2020 and two All-Defense first teams in 2020 and 2021. He was not even 25 at the end of the 2021 season.
We all know what happened after that. Ben melted down in the Sixers’ inexplicable playoff loss to the Hawks in 2021, was thrown under the bus by his coaches and teammates, and has never been quite the same since. He has cited mental health challenges as a result of that turmoil, which has caused some backlash from skeptics who have thought he was just using that as an excuse. Leaving the mental health stuff aside, a series of back injuries have also sapped his athleticism, turning him from one of the most dominant physical presences in the NBA into a role player at just 28 years old.
So, what are the Clippers getting in Ben Simmons? He averaged 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists for the Nets in 25 minutes per game while shooting 54.7% from the field and 69.2% from the line (0.8 attempts per game). He has not taken a single three this year. Most defensive metrics rate him as a positive, while offensive advanced stats have him as a significant negative. Ben can still score around the rim and in transition, but his extremely low free throw numbers for his size and physical tools point to his lack of aggression as a scorer in the halfcourt. Instead, Ben is much more of a pure facilitator.
Where I differ from a lot of interpretations of this move is Ben serving as the Clippers’ backup center. I think his size and rebounding will enable them to go small more easily, but in lineups alongside Nic Batum or Kawhi Leonard I think either of those players will serve more functionally as “the big man” on defense. Even in his prime, Simmons was not an effective backup big man – the Sixers tried using him to solve their endless “find a decent backup for Joel Embiid” issue and were unsuccessful. While a good rebounder, Simmons is not great at defending big men in the post, nor is he a capable shot blocker. He is far more adept at defending out on the perimeter.
Really, I think this move places Ben Simmons squarely as the Clippers’ backup point guard. The Clippers’ offense has struggled all year when James Harden is on the bench, and while Simmons rates as a well below-average individual offensive player, his playmaking, ballhandling, and ability to push the pace are all things the Clippers could use in their second unit. The question is whether his complete lack of shooting and disinterest in being any kind of scoring option in the halfcourt (he averages fewer points/36 min than Kris Dunn, who has been on an icy cold streak for half the season) keeps him as a truly viable option when games get serious. In the regular season, he should help on that end in much the same way Russell Westbrook did.
Oddly enough considering that Ben is much better on defense than offense, I have larger questions on the defensive side of the ball. Simmons can play with a big man (he started 69 of his 90 games as a Net, most of them alongside Nic Claxton) but that severely hampers the offense. Also, if both Simmons and Drew Eubanks play on the second unit, one or two real perimeter players will need to be out of the rotation. If you aren’t playing Eubanks, you’re going entirely with small-ball, and I’m still unsure of how that will hold up in a long-term setting – especially with weak perimeter defenders all over the Clippers’ rotation outside of Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn (Kawhi is a maybe right now). Additionally, it seems like it will be hard to play Kris Dunn and Simmons together, though if the other three players can all shoot maybe it could work. And if you remove Dunn from the rotation, the Clippers’ defense will see a severe negative impact regardless of what Simmons offers. While Simmons is still good on that end, he can’t guard big men and is best suited to defend wings and forwards, not point of attack. He’s just a different type of defender, albeit a useful one.
The long story short on my thoughts on the Simmons signing is that it makes sense, especially one offense, and that he has real skills that the Clippers need. However, I do think he should probably be a more limited, situational player who is used as a strict stagger with James Harden – he’s useless on offense when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. I believe this move is a sign the Clippers are committing to small-ball in the second unit, and that Eubanks will be used mostly in situations when Ivica Zubac is in foul trouble or might be out. My biggest concern is that much like Russell Westbrook when he signed with the Clippers as a buyout guy, Ty Lue will overplay Simmons due to his pedigree. In a specific, set role of about 12-14 minutes per game, Simmons will hopefully offer organization, pace, and playmaking to a Clippers’ second unit that needs all of those things. We will just have to wait and see.