08-13-2021, 09:08 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-13-2021, 09:11 AM by dirkfansince1998.)
(08-13-2021, 08:37 AM)Branduil Wrote: 1) Ben Simmons can only pray that he ever becomes a tenth of the defensive leader that Draymond is... what makes Draymond special is not just his own defensive ability, although of course he is elite in that regard, but also his ability to raise the defensive floor of the entire team with his on-court quarterbacking. I don't think Simmons will ever be capable of that, it's not his personality (it also requires holding people accountable, including yourself... and we see how Simmons feels about accountability).
Completly agree with that. At his best Draymond was a better defender than current Simmons and even last year he was still one of the best in the league. Just need to look at the improved defense of guys like Wiggins or Oubre.
Simmons on the other hand is on another level as a perimeter defender. Green could switch and hold his own better than most bigs in the league. Simmons is guarding the best opposing scorer. No matter the position. Can be a guard, wing or even a big forward. His defense against Trae in the playoffs and Luka in the regular season was probably the best on ball defense I have seen in the non handchecking era (only one in the same conversation is Tony Allen vs Durant).
Thing is that only one of them is available. Not to mention that Draymond is clearly declining.
(08-13-2021, 08:37 AM)Branduil Wrote: During their first few title runs Draymond made just enough threes to keep teams honest. Later on he got worse... but he was also on a team with Curry, Klay, and Durant. I don't see those guys on this team.
I think Simmons advantage as a ballhandler and finisher in the paint is enough to make up for it. Green was even more hesitant to take it to the rim and his percentages in the paint aren´t close to Simmons. And if you want to mention the supporting we should also account for the terrible spacing on most 76ers team in the last few years. From the Harris/Horford/Embiid to this years Thybull/Howard lineups. Even the addition of Curry wasn´t enough to make up for it. Especially after Danny Green´s injury.
I do think that a Mavs team with Luka/THJ/Bullock/DFS/Kleber/maybe Marrkanen would have way better spacing than any 76ers team that Simmons ever played on.