fishonjazz
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I think there is one slight myth about Simmons though. He does have a jumper and he has hit it a number of times this year. He believes that it is not an efficient enough play yet to justify him not driving and dishing. To make further steps he will need it. And I agree if he can't take some more shots in the playoffs that might become a big problem. But tbh, that will only become a problem if guys around him go ice cold. Which I think they could on a given night.
As for his teammates - from a basketball standpoint they must absolutely love the guy. I mean who wouldn't love a guy that puts up double digit assists and first, second and third thoughts are about getting them involved. From that perspective they would 'love' him a lot. '
From a personable perspective, it's hard to imagine them warming to him as much as the Jazz players do to Mitchell. Mitchell seems to really care about his teammates etc and it isn't just all about winning. Simmons strikes me as a kind of player who suffers no fools. It's all about the prize - not so much the journey... but that might be unfair to him. Simmons doesn't really strike me as being one of the boys - but rather a bit aloof. His personality does seem to contrast rather glaringly with Embiid (and a guy like Mitchell tbh).
I think it is hard to knock Simmons too much on anything atm. People say, the guy hasn't hit a three and doesn't have a jumper. Well at this stage it hardly matters - but it very well might in a couple of weeks. Think the jury needs to hold out a little.
One narrative that has probably got to stop is the idea that Donovan should win ROTY (not that it matters I get it) cause he is 'leading' his team into the playoffs. Another 'offense only' based assessment. Gobert and Embiid are both clearly the best players on their teams atm. Most standard and advanced metrics back this up. In fact, the gap between Gobert and Mitchell is larger than Embiid to Simmons. And further food for thought - both players by way of RPM are the THIRD best players on their teams. Ingles and Cov their teams' second best players. (But Ingles ranks lower than Simmons).
The big difference though is that Gobert according to some advanced stats is still a bit of an offensive hole. Unlike Embiid for the 76ers... This may make it more impressive that Mitchell is able to carry the team offensively the way he does.
One other thing, I find it hard to say a guy only has impressive assist numbers. For a guy who clearly doesn't look for his own shot much, he still averages 16 per at a clip of 53%. It's not like he is Lonzo.
ROTY is a tie...
Mitchell should win ROY cause he is a rookie. I think the rookie of the year award should be awarded to a rookie.