Speaking to reporters Tuesday at the 2018-19 media luncheon, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown said Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz will play together during the upcoming season.
Brown, who has been around the game for a while, understands there will be some growing pains when Simmons and Fultz are on the court together. However, Brown is excited to see the youngsters grow with each other and believes the Sixers can get creative on offense.
#Sixers coach Brett Brown on if and how he would play @MarkelleF and @BenSimmons25 on the floor together this season. pic.twitter.com/WcISIBFccD
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) September 18, 2018
After missing the entire 2016-17 season recovering from a foot injury, Simmons more than made up for lost time last season. Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft out of LSU, played in 81 games and averaged 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists, shooting 54.5 percent from the field during the regular season. His stellar play earned him the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year award.
Simmons, a gifted passer, registered 38 double-doubles and 12 triple-doubles. The Sixers made the playoffs and advanced to the second round, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in five games.
In an August interview with Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com, Simmons said he has been “adding different pieces” to his game this summer, with free throw and jump shooting being key points of emphasis. Simmons only shot 56.0 percent from the foul line in 2017-18 and wasn’t a threat from the perimeter. He scored 80.4 percent of his points in the paint and rarely took any jump shots. That’s why Simmons has been in the gym this offseason working on his outside stroke so opposing defenses can’t sag off and dare him to shoot.
“For me last season, I was trying to do what I was really good at – facilitating, getting guys involved, getting to the rim, and obviously making plays,” Simmons said. “You’ve got to start slowly. If it’s adding a free throw that gets up to 80.0 percent, that’s about five more points right there. If you add little things and keep adding over time, that’s how you become great.
“If you take [jump shots], [teams] give you a little bit more respect, and you’re able to make more moves and dissect the defense. This summer, I’ve been working a lot on certain things that I’ll definitely use.”
Fultz, meanwhile, had one of the strangest rookie seasons we have seen in recent history. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 Draft out of the University of Washington was sidelined most of the year with scapular muscle imbalance in his right shoulder and only played in 14 games. He averaged 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 40.5 percent from the field.
Fultz's shooting coach, Drew Hanlen, said earlier this offseason that Fultz had the case of the yips, which played a big part in Fultz’s unorthodox shooting mechanics. It appears, though, Fultz has regained his confidence in his jump shot and is a vastly improved player from everything that has been reported this summer. Now, we have to see if all the training Fultz has done will pay off.
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