Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid gave a thumbs up on the possibility of moving Ben Simmons to the power forward position once the season resumes on July 30.
Following Sixers head coach Brett Brown's admission of the team's new ploy on Monday, Embiid expressed his excitement with the idea of sharing the frontcourt with his fellow All-Star.
“I think he’s going to be great. Since I’ve been here I felt like we’ve had a great partnership,” the 26-year-old Sixers center said, via ESPN.
“I feel like this move will even be better than being a starting point guard because he is so great defensively. Offensively, when he has a chance he is probably one of the fastest guys in the league. Just getting rebounds, pushing the transition, and finding shooters. In half-court play we can use him in a lot of ways. Pick and roll or we could play out of the post. I think we’re going to be great.”
At 6-foot-10, Simmons is indeed the tallest point guard the league has had in recent memory. While pundits questioned if he can command the offense once he entered the pros, the talented Aussie silenced critics with his prolific ball-handling and savvy playmaking.
Simmons' length and athleticism made him a walking mismatch for point guards around the league. However, opposing teams have exploited his inability to stretch the floor, with defenders totally ignoring Simmons as long when he is outside the perimeter.
In this age when shooting is a premium, a point guard who can't shoot is indeed a liability. Putting Shake Milton in Simmons' place seems like the logical approach, considering he shot 45.3 percent from downtown prior to the hiatus.
Ben Simmons notched 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds 8.2 assists, and 2.1 steals in 54 games this 2019-20 prior to the hiatus. Joel Embiid, meanwhile, put up 23.4 points, 11.8 boards and 3.1 dimes in 44 outings for the Sixers.
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