Philadelphia 76ers: Will the season depend on Ben Simmons’ jumper?

The Philadelphia 76ers have one of the league’s most talented starting lineups in the NBA, but their success could be determined by Ben Simmon’s jumper

You can make the argument that the Philadelphia 76ers were one bounce away from being named NBA Champions last season. As history remembers, however, Kawhi Leonard‘s shot bounced in – and not out – in the waning moments of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and the Toronto Raptors would go on to win the NBA Championship.

After watching how the NBA Finals turned out, and how the offseason changed the face of the league as a whole, it’s no surprise that the 76ers will be heading into the 2019-20 season with high expectations.

On top of the Golden State Warriors not holding a monopoly over the league anymore, Kevin Durant will likely be out the entire season, the Milwaukee Bucks lost some depth, and Kawhi moved out West.

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As far as the Sixers, you can make the argument that while they lost Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick in free agency, they might’ve gotten better overall. The Sixers added Al Horford, Josh Richardson and re-signed Tobias Harris during the offseason.

They will enter the new season with arguably the best starting-5 in the NBA. With Ben Simmons, Richardson, Harris, Horford and Joel Embiid, you’d be hard-pressed to find another starting-5 that could match up with the team’s star power.

Even their worst player in the starting lineup – Josh Richardson – could be a budding star in the league today. He’s one of the best young two-way players and really blossomed during his time with the Miami Heat.

Adding Horford should solidify the team’s frontcourt and will make the interior of their defense impossible to maneuver through. He also adds insurance in the event that Embiid has to miss some time to injury, or if the team wants to place him on a maintenance/rest schedule during the regular season.

With Butler now in Miami, Harris will be able to play more at the small forward position and still contribute as a small-ball 4 at times. He’ll have more freedom in the offense and will certainly see the ball more.

Joel Embiid will likely continue to improve as he inches towards becoming one of the 10 best players in the NBA if he isn’t already in that class. However, there’s one player that could determine whether this season is a success or not for this team. And that player is Ben Simmons.

With the exit of Redick, the team’s best shooter last season, there is a glaring lack of shooting in the starting-5. While Richardson shooting the 3-ball at a career 37 percent clip, he’s not exactly the spot-up type of shooter that Redick was over the past two seasons.

It would be tough for Richardson to be that type of player for the Sixers. The same could be said about Harris. He won’t be able to fill that void. While Simmons wouldn’t be that – he’s only attempted 17 3’s through the first two seasons of his career and has yet to make one – he could help stretch the opponents’ defense against their offense.

And if Simmons can’t do that effectively, the Sixers’ offense isn’t going to look as fluid as it should considering all the talent that they’ll have at their disposal. It’s a simple fact. Watching the Sixers play last season, many defenders dared Simmons to shoot with how far they were playing off him. He rarely did it.

One thing that needs to be clear is that Simmons doesn’t have to develop a “3-point shot.” In fact, all he really needs to prove is that he can hit a jump shot in your face – even a 15-footer would do wonders for his offensive arsenal.

Much has been talked about over the last few weeks that Ben Simmons has really put work in his jump shot. In fact, you can’t watch the video and not be impressed.

https://twitter.com/swishcultures_/status/1164344820875194368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1164344820875194368&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthesixersense.com%2F2019%2F08%2F22%2Fphiladelphia-76ers-good-bad-ugly-ben-simmons-jump-shot%2F

However, if there’s one thing that we’ve learned in Basketball Twitter it’s that we can’t trust videos that surface on the internet when it pertains to a player. If we could, Carmelo Anthony would be a three-time NBA Champion and wouldn’t be sitting without a job right now.

If Simmons could add a mid-range jumper, it would make this team that much more dangerous. If the season starts, and Simmons proves that he could keep the defense honest with his jump shot, it would vault this team into clear favorite status, assuming health, in the Eastern Conference.

This is not to say that the Sixers can’t win an NBA Championship without the development of a jump shot from Ben Simmons, but the likelihood that this team reaches its potential is significantly lower if he can’t. As silly as it may seem, there’s a good chance that this season, for the Philadelphia 76ers, could come down to Ben Simmons’ jump shot. Much like how last season came down to Kawhi’s.