Ben Simmons' nightmare injury can be a blessing in disguise for the 76ers
It appeared to be the worst thing for Philadelphia 76ers fans when it surfaced that 2016 first overall pick, Ben Simmons is expected to miss three to four months after he suffered a fracture bone in his foot during the final 76ers training scrimmage.
The last three seasons has been a familiar nightmare for Sixers fans, for their lottery picks have been either out of site, out of this country or starting to run out of street clothes.
First in 2012, 12th overall pick Dario Šarić (Orlando Magic trade to Sixers), who played two years with the Turkish team Anadolu Efes from 2014 to 2016 before joining the Sixers.
Then in 2013, 6th overall pick Nerlons Noel suffered a missed the entire 2013-14 season for the 76ers due to recovering from knee surgery.
Followed by in 2014, 3rd overall pick Joel Embiid required two foot surgeries, missing both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons respectively.
Now with Simmons' injury, "the process" is going to take a lot longer.
I guess this is what Sam Hinkie meant in his 13-page manifesto when quoting the founder of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos that, " If Amazon has a good quarter, it’s because of work they did three, four, five years ago—not because they did a good job that quarter."
It has been three years since the rebuilding "process" started in 2013, yet 76ers fans, National Basketball Association Owners, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver are still waiting patiently for that good quarter.
I was always an advocate for Sam Hinkie's "trust the process", and "collecting of assets" memo,during his tenure as Sixers General Manager from 2013-16.
Some may argue that this pattern of tanking consecutive seasons while drafting players who only end up getting injured before the season even starts is this grand schemed conspiracy against the NBA owners as a way for the Sixers to collect as many top lottery picks in order to be a championship contender.
With Simmons' injury all hope is not gone, for the Los Angeles Clippers perennial all-star ,Blake Griffin broke his kneecap in 2009-10, missing his entire rookie campaign.
However, the following year Griffin won rookie of the year, and has become a five-time NBA All-Star.
In addition, Simmons' injury will allow the Sixers to further develop the raw, green as grass, yet very talented Embiid.
In exhibition games Embiid is averaging, 13.8 points and 7.0 rebounds while showing the potential in his mid range game with an impressive 82 percentage from the free throw line.
Embiid has also put on full display the fluidity in his post-offense from his ability to create shots off the dribble to playing with his back to basket, to facing up and knocking down a mid range jump shot from 15 feet and out.
At times Embiid does look out of control from poor passing decisions when being double teamed on the low block or when he loses control of his dribble.
However, this is expected, giving the fact that he only played one year of high school at The Rock School Academy and was one and done at the University of Kansas.
Embiid has a moxie and confidence about him whether it's hitting on a Kim Kardashion and Rhianna on twitter or when he was challenging Detroit Pistons All-Star Andre Drummond in a exhibition game.
There is a lot to love about Embiid's game and outgoing personality.
I think if Simmons was healthy, Embiid's development would take a hit, in similar fashion to Kevin Love's and Chris Bosh's production after they joined forces with Lebron James.
Simmons is a slashing, point-forward who doesn't have the confidence in his jump shot yet, so in my opinion most of his offense would be created by attacking the basket which would take away isolation plays for Embiid in the post.
Also with Simmons' strong ability to facilitate he is a type of player who needs to be surrounded by reliable three point shooters in similar fashion to Lebron, yet the Sixers clearly lack in that department on a nightly basis.
Now without Simmons I feel that Brett Brown's offense will run at a slower pace, and more of half-court offense if starts Jahlil Okafor and Embiid together.
Okafor will be a good complement to Embiid in hi-low offensive sets.
In short, Embiid went from being an unknown from Yaoundé, Cameroon to after only one year of high school basketball, becoming one of the best recruits in the country.
Then from one year of college basketball, he became arguably the absolute top prospect on many NBA pundits' mock draft.
Once a Sixers nightmare, it's scary to think that Embiid is just going to keep getting better "if" he can stay healthy