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The Comeback? Simmons STARS in LA debut | 01:34
Just a few years ago they were trading places. Ben Simmons to Brooklyn, James Harden to Philadelphia.
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For Harden, the move away from the Nets represented a chance to finally win an NBA title, joining a 76ers team that sat fourth in the Eastern Conference with a soon-to-be crowned MVP in Joel Embiid.
For Simmons, it wasn’t about winning championships.
It wasn’t even about “the basketball or the money or anything like that”, as he told reporters after the trade was confirmed.
“I want to be who I am.”
But in Brooklyn, that never really happened. An ongoing back issue plagued his next two seasons, while the $147 million ($A232m) left on his contract hung over Simmons and, fair or unfair, determined just how successful his every play and every move on the court was.
It also only exacerbated all the time spent off it.
When Simmons said he wanted to go back to being “who I am” in Brooklyn, he was talking about just being happy again as a person.
But with the constant need to prove he was worth every cent of that $147 million contract, the reality is Simmons also never had a chance to be himself as a basketball player too.
Which is why this new start at Los Angeles, even if only 27 minutes long, could be exactly what the Australian needs at this point of his career.
So long defined by that contract, Simmons is now signed to the Clippers on a prorated veteran minimum deal reported to be worth around $1.1 million ($A1.7m).
While the Simmons of old, the one that made three All-Star appearances and came second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, was worthy of that full $177 million ($A279m) contract he signed with the 76ers, a lot has changed since then.
None of it means Simmons can’t be an effective basketball player. It just means the way he plays and wins is slightly different.
He isn’t going to ever put up 42 points again like he did against the Jazz. He isn’t going to consistently get to the rim or draw fouls.
But he is going to play high-level defence, rebound the ball and find open teammates like he used to — and that is exactly the version of Ben Simmons that the Clippers need right now.
Which is why this could end up being a perfect marriage.
The signs were there especially in the second half of Simmons’ debut for the Clippers, although teammate Norman Powell later told reporters the light bulb came on for the Australian “as soon as he checked in”.
“Just the passes and reads that he made, talking to me especially and some of the other guys,” Powell said.
“Just when he has the ball, what he’s looking for. Running the lane, getting out in transition and running with them. Because he’s such a great passer, he sees the floor so well.”
That passing is something the Clippers in particular could use, having traded Kevin Porter Jr. away before the deadline.
While Porter Jr. was more of a shooting guard and added scoring punch off the bench, Simmons offers something entirely different with his facilitating.
He gives Clippers coach Ty Lue the ability to experiment with his line-ups, although for the most part against the Jazz he featured Simmons as a playmaking five in small-ball looks.
Simmons’ strength as a passer could be particularly lethal when operating off the short roll and surrounded by shooters.
But more than anything, it helps lessen the load on Harden, who told reporters before the game against Utah that he was “excited” about the prospect of playing with Simmons.
“Ben brings a skillset that other than myself, I feel like we don’t have,” Harden said.
“His passing ability, his speed, being able to push the ball up and get guys in the offence. And defensively he can still get after it. I’m excited to add him to what we have going on.”
Simmons already made an impact in his Clippers debut by operating as a safety valve for Harden when he was double-teamed, allowing the former league MVP to pass it off with the confidence his new teammate will quickly be able to make the right reads.
That was evident in overtime when Harden drew the double and Simmons was fast to offer himself as an option and then swiftly found Nicolas Batum for the go-ahead triple.
Powell said Simmons’ ability to be the “creator out of the double team” was “huge”.
Simmons impressed in his Clippers debut. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesWhile again obviously an incredibly small sample size, just as promising was the fact Simmons did not turn the ball over once while recording six assists in the game.
Simmons had averaged 2.7 turnovers this season at Brooklyn, where Jacques Vaughn had been complimentary of his playmaking but urged the Australian to be more careful with the ball.
That will be particularly true if Lue persists with using Simmons as the team’s primary ball handler when Harden sits, as was the case at times against the Jazz, although the spacing in those line-ups with Simmons and Ivica Zubac sharing the floor was a concern.
That was in part due to Simmons’ reluctance, at least early on in the game, to drive to the basket.
While that isn’t going to be a consistent strength in his game given Simmons isn’t the same athletic threat he was at his peak, he just needs to do it enough to keep the defence honest.
That was the case in the second half though as Simmons went at John Collins to draw a foul, while also attacking Kyle Filipowski to score a layup at another point in the fourth quarter.
“It was his first game, and so I thought he did a great job just reading the game, his IQ, making the right play, aggressive to the basket,” Lue said.
“I thought it was really good for us.”
Of course, as much as the focus in previous seasons has been on Simmons’ limitations on offence, any discussion of the 28-year-old’s play should really start on the defensive end.
It was something Powell immediately pointed to when asked about Simmons after the Jazz game, highlighting how the pressure his teammate applied on defence helped generate turnovers and easier looks on the other end.
And for a Clippers team that already boasts the second best defensive rating (108.3) in the league behind title favourites Oklahoma City, the addition of Simmons only allows them to be even more switchable on defence.
Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green described it as a “low-risk, high reward” move from the Clippers on his podcast.
“If he can tap back into half of what he was, the potential that he has shown to be a multiple-time All-Star, I think that’s beneficial for the Clippers,” Green added.
“Another playmaker and a switchable defender. I think it could be beneficial but he gotta go be Ben Simmons. He don’t need to be All-Star Ben Simmons, no one is expecting that, but he got to be somewhat Ben Simmons.”
Ben Simmons wasn’t able to get back to his best at Brooklyn. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTSTwo-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis, meanwhile, said on Green’s podcast that Simmons could be an “ultimate glue guy” for the Clippers.
“If the Clippers can count on him for anything, whether he comes to play hard, they’re going to be super successful,” he said.
“If he wants to be a defender, they’ll be super successful. If he comes and wants to be a playmaker, they’ll be super successful.
“All he has to do is just commit to playing basketball and if he could be the best version of any one of those things for the Clippers, then the sky’s the limit.
“I mean, you’re sitting on somebody who has high basketball IQ, loves playing defence and just hasn’t figured out his way.”
You don’t have to tell B.J. Armstrong that. The three-time NBA champion has been watching Simmons since high school and even visited Australia to see him play.
“So I feel like I have a pretty good view on Ben Simmons and who he really is,” he said on the Hoop Genius podcast.
So, who is the real Ben Simmons?
“What he did last night (against the Jazz) he is capable (of). I’ve seen him do that exact thing, I’ve seen him do that in high school, I saw him do it in college, I saw him do it in Australia, I’ve seen him do it in the NBA… it’s there,” Armstrong said.
“I think right now he’s probably in a role where no one is expecting him to do that so that’s why he does it and then all of a sudden when you expect him to do that in critical moments or on a nightly basis, that to me is the only question that I’ve had in scouting this young man for so long.
“Now I’m at a point where, ‘Yeah, you’re going to see that from time to time. It’d be nice to see it more times than not, but you are who are you’. He is an incredible talent. I don’t know where his back situation is at right now… but when he’s playing, he’s capable.
“No one has ever said he doesn’t have talent.”
And if they did, they don’t know Ben Simmons. But what Armstrong mentioned, about the weight of expectations, and now in the case of Simmons the burden of unfulfilled potential, is particularly relevant.
It remains to be seen what Simmons’ future in the league holds and whether he will be able to play his way into another long-term contract, potentially with the Clippers.
Either way, the days of five-year, $177 million contracts like the one he signed with Philadelphia are long gone, and it is probably a good thing.
This is a fresh start for Simmons. Mitchell Leff/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFPAgain, it is worth repeating that it has only been one game and as Armstrong noted, Simmons has a history of giving us glimpses but then failing to follow it up on a “nightly basis”.
But the difference now is that Simmons is no longer in the spotlight. Sure, he’s in L.A. But the Luka Doncic-led Lakers are still going to be the ones commanding the headlines.
And even at the Clippers, you have Harden and even Powell, who was unfortunate to miss out on All-Star selection, as primary scoring options. That isn’t even including Kawhi Leonard.
Simmons may have scored 12 points in his Clippers debut, but this isn’t necessarily a team that even needs that from him all the time.
This is a team that just needs some extra playmaking, defence and rebounding off the bench. That is exactly who Ben Simmons is. And as Simmons told reporters when he was first traded to Brooklyn, sometimes it isn’t even about basketball or money.
Sometimes, as Armstrong said, it can be “as simple as a change of scenery”.
“When you lose your confidence in this league, anywhere, you never get that back,” Armstrong added.
“For his sake, whatever was going on, I hope he’s fixed it because he’s a really good player. If Ty Lue, who I know and I know well, can’t fix it, then it’s probably not good — whatever it is.
“But last night, for that one game, you said, ‘Wow’, you really did. Where’s that been?”
Maybe it’s been there all along.
