According to Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown, Sixers star Ben Simmons is shooting more 3s in practice and âlooks goodâ doing it.
Brown told Sixers reporters that Simmons may have shot more deep shots in the last few days of practice than he did before the season was suspended in March due to COVID-19.Â
Of course, this doesn't mean the All-Star point-forward is going to start shooting and hitting 3s in games on a consistent basis, but it is a good sign that Simmons is starting to gain more confidence in his shot.
Brett Brown on Ben Simmons: "He shot more 3s in practice the last few days than he might have in almost half a season. He looks good, he feels good, and I know he's getting tremendous encouragement from his teammates."
â Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) July 16, 2020
There's zero floor spacing on the court for the Sixers when Joel Embiid, Simmons, and Al Horford are playing together, mostly due to Simmons' lack of a perimeter game. If the lefty could even hit mid-range shots on a regular basis, it would open up the Sixers' offense and allow Embiid to dominate in the post.
Simmons was averaging 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists for the Sixers prior to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert's positive COVID-19. The former No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year was shooting 58.5 percent from the field, but all of his shots were in the paint.
There's a lot of pressure on Philadelphia to play well in the 2020 postseason. Most NBA pundits believe Sixers general manager Elton Brand is going to trade either Simmons or Embiid and fire Brown if the team doesn't go on a deep playoff run in Orlando.