Can Ben Simmons’ defense replace Kevin Durant’s offense?
Only time will tell.
The Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets played last night in what should have been a back-and-forth brawl between two of the best offensive, and general, teams in the NBA right now. Even with the injured omissions of Kevin Durant and Jaylen Brown, one would expect that these well-rounded squads would have guys ready to step up if needed. Simmons is supposed to be the third best player on the Nets, following Durant and Kyrie Irving, and while his offensive output has declined, there’s certainly a minimum impact that you’d assume someone being paid $35 million per year would contribute. Simmons did clock in 13 assists, but he also failed to make a single field-goal. Yes, he assisted on over half of his teammates’ shots when he was on the floor, but his 3 attempted shots compared to Kyrie’s 23 is unacceptable. Instead, his presence was felt on the other side of the floor, where he rebounded 30% of the Celtics’ missed shots when he was on the court, as well as recording 2 steals and a block. These are the statistics that fans of Simmons will point at, while everybody else is scrutinizing his play with the ball in his hand, but is it truly enough to help the Nets through a month without KD?
Before looking at any of the film, there is a clear story being told by the numbers. When Simmons has been off the floor this season, the Nets’ opponents’ ORtg increases from 111.8 to 113.7. Looking at the different lineups that the Nets have deployed, it is clear that head coach Jacque Vaughn is more than reluctant to allow Simmons to be without either Kyrie or KD. Whether you blame this on depth or Simmons’ abilities, there is quite literally not a single 5-man lineup that has played a single minute this season with Ben Simmons and not Kyrie and/or KD. The Nets’ two most frequent 5-man groups are: Simmons/KD/Kyrie/Royce O’Neale/Nicolas Claxton and KD/Kyrie/Joe Harris/Claxton/O’Neale. The latter lineup is more offensively efficient, as they outscore opponents by an average of 10.6 points, as opposed to the other’s +8.4 rating.
Enough about offense though, let’s get to what Simmons is actually currently elite (or supposed to be) at. According to Cleaning The Glass, Simmons ranks in the 89th percentile for his position in percentage of opposing shots blocked, as well the 95th percentile for the same stat but with steals. These are evidently impressive, but the latter stat is a career-high, while the former is a career-low. Inconsistencies aside, what’s most alarming is his rock-bottom percentile ranking for foul frequency per team play; Simmons is charged with a foul within 5.1% of all his defensive plays. This is the bottoming out of an already regressing area for Simmons, but his lack of defensive composure has been abundantly apparent throughout the season.
The clips above show Simmons providing fouls for over-committing and pressing on Memphis’ Santi Aldama and New Orleans’ Jonas Valanciunas. These are not guys that Simmons has any reason to try to shut down beyond the perimeter. Yes, they can shoot, but they will never take a contested three over handing it to their team’s primary ball-handler to execute a formal set. More than this though, it’s not clear what Simmons intends to be doing without a fellow teammate helping shut down passing options because both fouls occur in areas where there is enough space to be bailed out by a short pass to a teammate. It’s not like Simmons is cutting off the sides to prevent dribbling or said passing opportunities, he just kind of gets up in their grill and they both easily take advantage of his eagerness. These kinds of moments showcase the worse of Simmons’ keenness to lockout bigger opponents that are less agile than him.
A play like this versus the Indiana Pacers displays Simmons’ athleticism in good use, but what effectiveness does a fast-break steal like this even have if Simmons is rarely willing to exploit the few advantages that transitional plays have, which is the benefit of catching a defense in flux.
Here though, we finally see Simmons taking advantage of some of the physical gifts he has by utilizing his wingspan and speed to tip this pass. At first, Simmons looks removed from the play because of his decision to leave his man, Devin Vassell, to help try to force a turnover. He gives up a wide-open three while standing idly, but after recognizing Jeremy Sochan’s sticky predicament after the offensive rebound, he races over to the nearest evacuation option before the ball even leaves the San Antonio player’s hands for a good heads-up play.
Again though, at times it feels like Simmons has lost a step, which has been hindering his versatility that he was so valued for on defense. Against the Warriors here, he gets easily beat by Jordan Poole on a drive to the basket without even attempting to contest him (probably out of fear of the size discrepancy that could invoke a foul), but then on this other play, he fails to properly switch on to Jonathan Kuminga after getting caught on his screen and simply gets lucky that the shot does not go in.
Simmons’s ability to switch on everything was more of a novelty when he was on the Philadelphia 76ers than people expected. In the 2020–2021 season, he guarded power-forwards/centers a combined 32% of the time, while he was assigned to guards 48.3% of the time. This season, he is put on big-men 54.4% of plays, with guards taking up 35.7% of his attention. The Nets have enjoyed a small-ball rotation that aids the team, but cancels out some of the attributes that made Simmons so valuable on a team with a bonafide superstar big-man in Joel Embiid. Simmons is now expected to not only be able to switch on to craftier guards if directed to, but also to be a force in the paint for a majority of his defensive efforts. Claxton has certainly eased the pain of Simmons’ historically lackluster interior defense, but we’ll see if it gets exposed more during this demanding time without KD.
Stats referenced from Basketball Reference, Cleaning The Glass and Bball Index. Footage courtesy of NBA.
