The future of the NBA is here. Luka Doncic and Ben Simmons have absolutely taken the league by storm. Doncic is a rookie sensation tearing it up night after night for the Mavericks. Simmons is *technically* a second-year player looking to lead the 76ers to an NBA Championship. In terms of this season, Doncic has had one of the best rookie years in recent memory and is giving the fans and media countless highlights to drown in. Amidst the performance this season by the probable Rookie of the Year, Doncic has drawn himself in conversation with another young phenom and last year’s Rookie of the Year recipient, Ben Simmons.
On that note, it begs the question of who’s the better player? This includes right now and down the line. Opinions will spread all over with this topic, but that’s expected with any type of player comparison. With the help of fellow staff writer Aiden Hawkins, we’ll take a deeper look into the cases for both
Ben Simmons
LeBron James is undoubtedly the face of the NBA right now. Out of all young players in the NBA, Simmons may just be the closest thing to James we have in this league. He’s a superstar in the making for more reasons than one.
Scoring
It’s well established that Simmons is a dominant scorer. Forget the “no jump-shot” nonsense that this narrative comes with. Simmons has established himself even without the presence of it. Even though he’s only taken three shots from behind the arc, Simmons has made his presence felt from inside the arc. This season, he’s averaging 16.7 PPG without being both the first option and a score-first player. Simmons’ game strongly incorporates getting his teammates shots instead of himself. Nevertheless, he still manages to get the ball into the bucket.
Of course, Doncic has been very good everywhere inside the arc, including shooting and driving, and this ultimately puts him in a better position than Simmons in regards to scoring. Simmons does have a fantastic 56.9% FG%. But teams know he can’t shoot, making it easy to defend him. Simmons is a terrific scorer, but Doncic has been doing it better and from all around the floor. However, where Simmons’ bread and butter lay are with his playmaking ability.
Playmaking
Simmons is widely known to be one of the best playmakers in the NBA. His slick passing and sharp court vision are things that resemble those of LeBron James. Doncic’s 5.5 assists are certainly impressive for a rookie, but don’t forget that Simmons is one of the best playmakers we’ve seen this decade. As seen in the video above, the Sixers’ offense simply doesn’t function as efficiently without Simmons at the helm. Whether it’s off a pick-and-roll, downcourt passes, or slick flashy plays, Simmons’ playmaking game perfectly fits into Brett Brown’s offense to make him one of the best in the league.
Simmons is averaging 8.0 APG, and that’s with Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid on the squad who are players that need the ball in order to operate. He has court vision that exceeds most players in the NBA, and that includes Luka Doncic. Simmons is undoubtedly one of the NBA’s premier playmakers. Some may argue that Doncic can do everything Simmons can. But playmaking? Not so much.
Defense
Ben Simmons is an above average defender. There’s not much to say other than Simmons does his job when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. As a rather underrated player, Simmons isn’t one to take time off when it comes to defense. He’s a player that’s always attentive whether it’s blocking shots, jumping into the passing lane, or noticing inbounding mistakes by the opposing teams. Simmons does it all. As for Doncic, he’s just a rookie, but despite that, he hasn’t shown any flashes that reflect him as a really good or really poor defender.
Luka Doncic
Scoring
In this instance with Doncic vs. Simmons, Luka slightly edges out Ben Simmons on the offensive side of the ball. Luka is averaging a very respectable 20.8 PPG on an EFG of 50.9%. He’s leading rookies in scoring while also being in the top-25 for PPG this season. This is because Luka can score on all three levels of the court. He finishes 63% of shots within the restricted area, as well as 47% from any shot outside of the paint excluding the three-point shot.
Even from three, Doncic excels. He’s shooting 35% from the behind the arc this season. Though 35% isn’t amazing, the difficulty of the shot is what really stands out. Luka very rarely takes catch-and-shoot threes because he’s the primary ball handler. A majority of his 3PTs are off of step-back shots or fadeaways. But when he’s in a catch-and-shoot situation, he’s a knockdown shooter at 46% on catch-and-shoot 3PTs.
Playmaking
Luka is in the top-five in APG among rookies with 5.5. Similar to Doncic’s 3PT%, the APG doesn’t tell the full story. He has an innate ability to make the right pass. Whether it leads to an assist or not, Doncic’s passing vision may be one of the best in the NBA. He has tremendous handles for a 6’7″ small forward, but really Doncic is more of a PG in my eyes. This shows with his usage rate being in the top-25 in the NBA.
The argument can be made that Luka’s usage rate is why he has this statistical output when in reality he’s just this good. He’s already led the Mavericks to double their win total from last season, and at one point had them in playoff contention. But Luka isn’t a perfect player. Where he succeeds on offense is where he drops off on defense.
Defense
Luka is, at best, a below-average defender. If you watch a full Mavericks’ game, opposing players and coaches often try to go at Luka or generate a switch to get him to defend their best player. His defensive rating for a wing is abysmal, placing in the lower 50th percent tile among SF In the NBA. The only upside I’ve seen from Luka is his ability to play the passing lanes.
You can often see Doncic breaking on passes the second they’re thrown, but this could just be due to his tremendously high basketball IQ. With that being said, Luka isn’t a good defender. He’s only 19 years old, so this can always improve, but for now, Simmons has the edge over Doncic on the defensive end.
Luka Doncic and Ben Simmons are certainly both exceptional talents in today’s NBA. They’re the future of the Association, and all we can really do is praise them. They’ll both continue to amaze us all for many years to come.
On that note, who do YOU think is the better player? Ben Simmons or Luka Doncic? Let us know.
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