A former NBA All-Star is taking all of the shots that Ben Simmons will not.
Speaking this week on MSG Network, ex-sharpshooter Wally Szczerbiak, who is now an analyst for the New York Knicks, absolutely ripped into the Brooklyn Nets star Simmons. It all began when Szczerbiak was asked who he believes is the most overrated player in the NBA today.
“Most overrated player is Ben Simmons, not even close,” replied Szczerbiak, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “The guy couldn’t even play in the playoffs two years ago. Then he was scared to get onto the court all of last year. The guy is scared to shoot. He [was] the first pick in the NBA Draft and you can’t even get him on the basketball floor.
“He’s supposed to be a good defender,” Szczerbiak added of Simmons. “He was playing for the Brooklyn Nets, and they were giving up 125 points per game, and they got their coach [Steve Nash] fired because they couldn’t stop anybody. Ben Simmons is so overrated you can’t even put him in the game anymore. It’s a little bit of a shame.”
While Szczerbiak’s greater point here stands, it is hard to call Simmons truly overrated these days because his value is at a career low. Simmons’ averages this season (6, 6, and 7 per game, rounding up) look more like an area code than basketball statistics, and his ridiculously passive play has given rise to some concerning theories. Meanwhile as Szczerbiak hinted at, Simmons’ lone supposed saving grace (his defense) has regressed badly, and he is posting a sickening 121.2 defensive rating this season (413th out of 448 players in the league, per NBA.com).
It is clear that the Nets have a Krakatoan disaster on their hands in the form of Simmons and the roughly $114 million that he is still owed in guaranteed money. Maybe Brooklyn gets lucky though and is somehow able to convince this possibly interested team to rid them of their Simmons-shaped calamity.
