Once upon a time, Ben Simmons was seen as one of the top young stars in the NBA. The six-foot-10 Australian was named an All-Star for three-straight years from 2019 to 2021. The 2017-18 Rookie of the Year was seen as a nightly triple-double threat. Simmons has recorded 33 in his career. Simmons also brought it on both ends. He has finished in the top-four of Defensive Player of the Year voting twice.
Still just 28 years old, Simmons should be in the prime of his career. Any fan of the NBA knows that is not the case. Constant injuries to his back has kept him on the sidelines far more often than he has been on the court.
In the final year of his five-year, $177 million contract, Simmons has appeared in both of the Brooklyn Nets first two games. While he has showed glimpses of his prior play, his head coach would like to see him look to score more often.
Jordi Fernandez Wants ‘Aggressive’ Ben Simmons On Offense
Simmons Not Shooting Much At Start Of Season
The Nets are off to an 0-2 start. That isn’t all that surprising, as Brooklyn is expected to be one of the worst teams in the 2024-25 season.
On Friday night, the Nets fell to the Orlando Magic by the score of 116-101. The Nets played their season opener on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks and were defeated 120-116. In the two games, Simmons started both but attempted just nine field goals combined.
After Friday night’s outing, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez let it be known that he wants Simmons to look to score far more often.
“I want those (shot) attempts to go up to 10 to 15 attempts per game” Fernandez stated. “I don’t want him to drive to pass. I keep telling him to drive to the rim and be aggressive. That’s what the team needs from him, and that’s what his teammates want him to do.”
Ten to 15 shots a game is many more than the 4.5 he has averaged through two contests. Averaging 24 minutes in his two games, Simmons has made five of his nine field goal attempts (all two-pointers) and three of four from the charity stripe. He has also totaled 11 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks, and a steal. On the negative side, Simmons has turned the ball over 10 times and also had five personal fouls in both games.
Realistic For Him To Be That Involved On Offense?
While Simmons can certainly up his shot attempts at the rim, scoring has never been his forte. His offensive game is all down low, as Simmons has made just five from beyond the arc in his career. His career-high in shot attempts is 12.3 in his rookie season. In Simmons’ 57 games with Brooklyn before this season, he only attempted 5.4 shots per game.
Brooklyn has last season’s leading scorer on the team, Cam Thomas, who is never shy about jacking up shots. They could use more offense other than him, but expecting Simmons to even become the scorer he was in the past (career-high 16.9 points in 2018-19) doesn’t seem realistic.
