I'm a better shooter than Ben Simmons. Shaq had a bit of an excuse given he apparently broke both wrists as a kid and was so big he didn't need a jump shot. Ben has no excuse to not know how to shoot at least on a decent clip from now.

I hope it fires him up for the Olympics.

Yeah it has to happen at this point. His offense has regressed horribly and he needs change. Philly need a PG they can rely on in the clutch. Seeing Embiid try to initiate offense from the top in the last two minutes was painful.

I still see Simmons to Portland for CJ McCollum as being the closest to a win win for both sides.

McCollum can get a chance to be the closer for Embiid, while Simmons plays with an elite shot maker and creator and gives them elite defense and a completely different look.

The thing is, where ever he plays, he needs to work on his two key weaknesses.

1. Forget the three ball, he just needs to make FTs. If he makes even 65% this series is probably completely different. His lack of ability to make FTs affects his confidence going to the rim as he does NOT want to end up at the line; which leads to

2. Passiveness on offense. When he gives the ball up early in offense he basically turns into a cone and does nothing but stand in the dunker spot. This takes away all of his strengths (agility, passing ability) and makes him super easy to defend. He needs to learn to play off the ball. I'd love to see him keep moving, set screens, roll to the hoop. He doesnt need to be an outside threat to make his defender work. I thought this issue might have been Brett Brown's offense but if anything it has gotten worse under Doc.

Bill Simmons suggested a trade I thought made sense with Ben going to Portland for McCollum. + pieces on either side to make things work.

No way he stays in Philly. Will be fascinating to see with the failings if he genuinely works on being a better offensive player.

If NO goes all in on Zion being their number 1 option, perhaps they look at swinging out Ingram for Ben.

"I'm a better shooter than Ben Simmons."

I genuinely think most people here would be. There's simply no excuse for being such a poor free throw shooter as a pro.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/nba-playoffs-2021-philadelphia-76ers-vs-atlanta-hawks-game-7-score-result-video-live-updates-stream/news-story/efbb2d0d81442dad73bb291007bec0b9

Is pretty damning about Simmons

Draymond to Blazers
CJ to Philly
Ben to Warriors

Who says no?

I agree, Cram.
Being a free throw liability has a lot of bad flow-on effects. Mentally it's a killer. Must sort that out even if he doesn't practice another 3PA all year.

I'm glad he's failing. In rooting for him to fail, because it can only result in a net positive at the end of the day. He doesn't care enough, so maybe repeated failure kicks his ass into gear. And if he doesn't respond to the failing, then it proves he's soft and deserves to continue failing. No sympathy for his smug entitled ass. It sucks that he's Australian because you want to root for him. Ah well

Embiid and Rivers gave answers to questions post-game that wouldn't exactly suggest they were thrilled by him. I think those relationships are toast, especially with Embiid.

Draymond to Blazers

For sure regarding Dray, but if they think they can mould Ben into a younger more athletic version of Dray then that would be an improvement.

But their window is now, and you wouldn't exactly call Draymond mentally fragile. Ben’s obviously got serious yips right now that he seemingly can’t overcome. Warriors wouldn’t want to gamble on that in the short term, I don’t think.

The way Simmons stock has fallen and Wiggins has actually been repaired, you could ALMOST see those two being traded for each other, but I doubt it. Sixers need a leader. If they can pick up Kyle Lowry (Philly's lad) they might be more willing to move Simmons for a lesser return, with Thybule being a ready made defensive replacement

A line up of Lowry, McCollum, Thybule, Harris and Embiid with Seth Curry as your sixth man would be pretty damn good.

All Philly needs is someone with a dog mentality who isn't scared of the moment, who you can put the ball in his hands and go make a play in a one-posession game. Someone who can drive a team with relentless work ethic and who'll do anything to win and put the team on his back. Someone like say Jimmy Butler... Oh shit.

I've always thought the problem isn't his jumpshot, especially shooting 3s, it's his mental strength. That's the root of his problem. He doesn't have that killer mental instinct. More specifically, I'd say he has a chokers instinct. This is an absolute killer when it comes to free-throws late in games. Fear of choking that facilitates choking.

Overall, he fades throughout the game. He has a pattern throughout his career of being less productive late in game, and that isn't just due worries about shooting FTs. It can be shown year after year in advanced stats.

Looking at his splits by actual margin this season, when his team is down 1-5, his mentality is different. He's aggressive, he is focused, he hits FTs at 78%! When the score is tied, he is active, he is crashing boards at a peak rate, but his FT% plummets to 52%. When up just 1-5, he becomes hesitant, and when he has time to think, like in FTs, his FT% is at that dismal 54% level.

I don't know how this deficiency can be addressed. As mentioned previously in this thread, there is a pattern. He tends to choose the easier option mentally. He is so very talented, but he tends to stick to his comfort zone. Maybe a new environment? A coach that is hard on him?

Who's going to take on his contract? He's still owed $147m over the next four years. Also has a 15% trade kicker. Surely won't be easy to move.

Every contract is movable. Seeing guys like Wall and Westbrook move around the league and CP3 go from being considered a guy with an immovable contract to an MVP finalist shows this.

Simmons definitely need some changes to his work and to his team. Its clear he isn't "the next lebron" anymore, but he could easily be a big contributor on a winning team like a Draymond Green.

rjd, seems likely. Narrowly down and you can only succeed - you either stay down (no one thinks the worst of you) or get in front. Up a few and you could be the one who screws it up and starts the slide to a loss.

If they haven't had a full time sports psych with him all season, they’re crazy.

Don't forget that Simmons is in the Rich Paul camp, so Lakers are a chance here.

Philly are going to have to take whatever they can get now. His value is at rock bottom.

A trade where it is Schroder & KCP for Simmons could be all Philly get.

Nostraballmus says that will be forgotten when he leads the Boomers to gold in a few weeks time.

Well his next team should be Australia at the olympics.
What's the odds of him missing to work on his game?

" What's the odds of him missing..."

Infinity

“…to work on his game?”

Absolute zero

Absolutely agree KET. He's not coming to the Olympics and he won't work on his game. Too much COD and Fortnite to play.

Why is he so highly regarded by Australian media?

So why is everyone suddenly saying this is the straw that broke the camels back?

I don't like Ben Simmons and Shaq was my favourite player but that was a disgusting comment by Shaq. He's turned into a real bully in the media since he retired and if you notice he almost always goes after player who aren't well liked.

I saw a number of his free throws where he had the direction right but it was either too long or too short.

When any players I coach have the same problem, I just suggest they shoot harder and rely on the backboard absorbing the excess energy, which usually works until they work out the strength they need.

Perhaps he & his shooting coaches are over-thinking it.

I really do think Ben would work well under Pop in a Spurs system he needs a coach who would allow him to play to his strengths and get the best out of him.

I hope Spurs don't take him and his supermax contract.

We already have Murray who's a similar type of player, not as good obviously, but also not ridiculously overpaid like Simmons.

He needs to be somewhere that has an elite outside scorer who can get his own shot (ie Portland). I dont think you can play him at PG anymore.

Yeah not New York. No.

Morey will probably try to trade him to Washington for Beal and end up getting Westbrook

Regarding the other consolidated thread, I don't think those specific family issues would've been a huge factor. I think this crept up on him. The 76ers had a decent season and added scoring pieces. He and they would've figured that might be enough to overcome Simmons' offensive deficiencies. Play defence, come down and distribute to scorers at the other end. I just doubt anyone expected that it would get to the point that he'd turn down a dunk.

The Washington Series was, obviously just Washington, but his games were:

6/15/15
22/9/8
14/5/9
13/12/3 (25 mins, foul trouble)
19/10/11

64% from the field. Averaged close to a triple double. On paper, seems fine for a guy with Embiid getting 30 a game, Harris, Curry, etc.

I can see how to maintain his sanity, he might look at that and figure it wasn't an emergency. FT shooting over the last two games was better than the first three's 0/9! Then they open the Atlanta series with a narrow loss where he misses 7 FT. Game 4, 3 point loss where he misses 4 FT. Another 3 point loss where he misses 10 FT. Grew up in an online world where the talk of his FTs is a constant assault. Too late then to realise the depths of the headspace problem, is my guess.

I wouldn't be forcing him to practice FTs right now. I'd encourage him to get away from his phone and focus on some things he's naturally good at first.

Likely other family issues though?

Two days after that 2018 loss to the Celtics, the Sixers held exit meetings in their Camden, N.J., training facility. Each player was given a four-page document containing individualized offseason plans. For Simmons the list of priorities included free-throw shooting, finishing at the rim and developing a jump shot. In that order.

After the meetings, Brown told reporters during a press conference that he expected Simmons to spend "intense time" with Townsend over the offseason. Everyone around the team was excited. They felt like a breakthrough had occurred, that Simmons was ready not only to solidify his improvements at the line but also to begin carrying those changes over into his shooting overall.

After exit meetings, the players and coaches went their separate ways to recharge. Some time passed and, according to multiple league sources, when Townsend returned to the team's facility Brown pulled him aside. Change of plans, he said.

Simmons’ agent, Rich Paul, and family had decided that he’d be better off working with one of his brothers, Liam, a former low-level Division I guard and assistant coach, who now coaches at D-2 Colorado Christian University.

NBA executives told draft expert Jonathan Givony they thought Simmons had a character problem. An introvert by nature, Simmons responded by turning more inward, cutting his circle down to family and the closest of friends. His parents moved to Philadelphia. Sean became his manager. Klutch Sports, where one of his sisters worked, became his agency.

Wow. Awesome find, Isaac

All of this is consistent. Look what happens to him when the going gets tough.

With the harshness of Philly fans and a head coach that coddled him, it was actually one of the worst places for him to go. This pattern needs to be broken.

It's super disappointing to see players’ mental side so clearly get in the way of their potential.

Spurs have been an outstanding organisation in developing the right mentality in players, and those that are too stubborn or cannot be fixed they will unapologetically shed.

That’s the right way to go.

We see stars dictate what the roster will be, the coach they want coaching them, the playing style they want.

Then they fall out with other players and they bail, or they fall out with management and bail or they sook and try to deflect blame when things go wrong.

A player isn’t a GM, a player isn’t a coach. I’d love to see NBA teams not give in to the shocking star mentality. Inevitably when they go "screw this, we will get rid of you" the damage is already done.

Spurs under somebody strong and respected like Pop might be a good option, but what about after Pop leaves?

I think whatever we think the strategy is to get Ben to actualise his potential, HE needs to want to address whatever the mental issues are that causing such a colossal breakdown.

Going to olympics would be best thing for Simmons! He will regret this decision long term

Danny Green on Ben Simmons: "You can tell Ben's the type of kid if he’s not encouraged; if he’s not pushed or forced to do it, he’s not the type to take that risk."

Perhaps he needs to go to LA to work alongside LBJ and be motivated to get better