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The Philadelphia 76ers failed to live up to high expectations heading into the 2019-20 season. The high profile additions they made in the 2019 offseason did not work out at all and the team slumped to the 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and they were then swept by the Boston Celtics in Round 1.
They were missing a very important piece in the form of All-Star Ben Simmons who missed the playoffs after undergoing knee surgery to repair a loose body in his left knee. It was clear and obvious that the Sixers were missing his presence, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
We now begin a review of the 2019-20 season in Philadelphia beginning with Simmons.
2019-20 season averages
16.4 points
8.0 assists
7.4 rebounds
2.1 steals
58% overall percentage
28.6% from deep
Simmons turned his normal averages on the floor as he continued to show off a very versatile game. However, what really stood out was his effort on defense as he locked up some of the game’s biggest stars and the opposition’s best scorer every night for the Sixers. In fact, he held Celtics star Jayson Tatum to 5-for-16 shooting in the regular season per NBA Stats. Simmons would have been very helpful in the playoffs against Boston.
“Ben had a great season,” acknowledged general manager Elton Brand. “He led the league in steals, he should be on an All-Defensive Team, defense is important, he played great and he’s going to continue to grow on the offensive end and he brings us a lot.”
Offensively, he obviously still has a ways to go. Although he did finally make the first two 3-pointers of his career this season, he did not shoot them with enough regularity. He did, however, continue to show off aggression on getting to the basket and finishing and he had his finest performance against the Brooklyn Nets with an impressive triple-double game to lead the way without Joel Embiid.
Former coach Brett Brown made a decision in the league restart to move Simmons from the point guard spot to the power forward spot where he hoped to unlock more of his game. There were some mixed results as he averaged 11.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in three seeding games before the knee injury.
Unfortunately, he obviously was not able to play in the playoffs and that was a huge absence for Philadelphia. His defense against the Celtics and their perimeter scorers would have been a huge help. Instead, the Sixers had to rely on a lot of younger players such as Matisse Thybulle and Shake Milton against Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker. [lawrence-related id=37249,37241,37238]