Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers has grand plans for Ben Simmons to take his game to the next level. Step one was bringing over his former Los Angeles Clippers assistant Sam Cassell to the City of Brotherly Love and have him work closely with the Australian star.
“Sam, you give him to players, he has done a great job,” Rivers said of Cassell's impact, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It is more than about shooting. It is his post game, his passing. How to play the unique position that he plays.”
Before he became a respected deputy around the league, Sam Cassell won three titles as a player for the Houston Rockets and the Boston Celtics. Sam-I-Am was a terrific 3-point shooter during his playing days, but it seems like Rivers him to impart valuable knowledge to the Sixers star far beyond his range.
Doc understands he has a unique player in Simmons and wants him to become the best player he can possibly be.
“He is not a point, not a two, not a three, he is a ballplayer. We put him in every spot on the floor, literally every spot on the floor. Having a guy like Sam explain to him what we are looking for is really what we are trying to do here,” the Sixers coach added.
The Sixers' relationship with Ben Simmons is actually intriguing at the moment considering reports that Philly almost sent him to the Rockets for James Harden. The 24-year-old point-forward has since insisted that all is good between him and the franchise that drafted him first overall in 2016.
Philadelphia (9-5) is actually enjoying a hot start in the 2020-21 campaign despite Simmons' numbers regressing a bit from the year before. The 6-foot-11 facilitator is notching 12.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block in his first 12 games.
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