Brooklyn Nets fans were ecstatic to realize that Ben Simmons had his highest-scoring effort of the season thus far. He managed to get 11 points in a 32-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. Way to go!
Simmons has been either dreadful or unavailable this season, and while it’s still early in his Nets tenure, it seems like Sean Marks got nothing but damaged goods in the James Harden trade.
That’s why ESPN’s Michael Wilbon doesn’t want to waste any more time talking about Simmons or what he does or doesn’t, as he thinks he’s just another borderline role player who doesn’t deserve all the attention.
NBA News: Michael Wilbon Blasts Ben Simmons After 11-Point Performance
“Let’s go back over these numbers,” Wilbon started. “The Nets gave up 153 points. They lost to Sacramento, a team that never makes the playoffs, by 32. The first half was a 19-point spread. What that tells me is that for most of the game, it was garbage time. You score, I score, and nobody cares. Ben Simmons goes and gets 11 points in 20 minutes of garbage time. Any 8th man or 9th man on any team in the league could do that and do better. So to ask if this is a silver lining, my response is are you kidding?”
“We are concerned with Ben Simmons because he got double figures for the first time all year,and we think it’s important. My point is, we waste a lot of time on Ben Simmons,” Wilbon sentenced.“To some people, Ben Simmons is an interesting case study. He was an All-Star, then he ran afoul of his coaches and teammates in Philadelphia. Now he’s not there anymore, he’s on another team, and he’s got a different game. He’s not a very good player at the moment. And that’s what the Nets are all about. They got Ben Simmons, who is disaffected; they got the problematic Kyrie Irving; they got tremendously unhappy all the time Kevin Durant. They’re the land of lost toys.”
As harsh as this statement is, it doesn’t make it any less true. Simmons has become a borderline rotation player and not much more, so maybe we shouldn’t talk about him until he finally proves otherwise.