Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons continues to take his criticism in the NBA–which some would call unfair–but at the end of the day, he is still an All-Star player and a guy who is already in the top 20 at least in the league.
Yes, despite all of his issues of not shooting a jump shot, he is still a terrific player. He is averaging 16.7 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds and he is a 2-time All-Star all while being only 23-years old.
Which brings up the question, who are the best players under the age of 25?
HoopsHype has put together a list of the top 25 players under that age and Simmons comes in ranked 4th on the list.
We all know Ben Simmons’ biggest flaw as a player: He doesn’t shoot three-pointers.
But what gets often ignored in the discourse surrounding the young Australian ball-handler is the fact that even despite that flaw, he’s still an extremely impactful player, one that is consistently a terror defensively and borderline unstoppable in transition, and one that has proven to be an elite playmaker.
Simmons’ numbers – 16.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.1 steals (No. 1 in the league) – might be more impressive if he were asked to do more offensively, as was the case for a nine-game stretch back in January when Joel Embiid missed time with injury. In that time, Simmons put up 21.6 points, 9.3 boards and 7.9 assists nightly, leading the Philadephia 76ers to a 6-3 record.
Simmons isn’t perfect, but he still impacts games like an elite player.
The jump shot is a big thing and that will definitely have to come along at some point in his game, but there is also no questioning the fact that he is one of the best players this game has to offer. The only players ranked ahead of him were Donovan Mitchell, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Luka Doncic. [lawrence-related id=31571,31565,31557]