Ben Simmons’ candidacy for ROY of the Year has taken a hit due to the electrifying play of one Donovan Mitchell. It seemed like such a sure thing early in the year, but I guess that’s why they play the whole season with all its ebbs and flows. Simmons’ lack of a jumper is starting to hurt him a little bit now, even if he does everything else at a high level.
And don’t point to Giannis as an example of a dominant player without a jumper. He may not be all that good at them, but he is definitely willing to at least take them. Simmons’ only jumpers this year are short midrange floaty-looking things. His number of standstill spot-up jumper attempts has to be really low.
Simmons is still the frontrunner for the award, though, and he’ll probably pick things back up again. Maybe starting tonight? His point total was inflated by a lot of free throws, but at least he made a bunch of them, and hack-a-Simmons was only used twice. Three for four on those foul shots will make other teams thing twice before employing the strategy. Take that Popovich!