Doc Rivers Has A Plan For Ben Simmons This Offseason

After a miserable postseason, the Philadelphia 76ers can’t actually be thinking about keeping Ben Simmons, can they?

At first, it sounded like Doc Rivers had just about enough of Simmons.

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Doc Rivers Refuses To Commit To Ben Simmons Following Brutal Postseasonhttps://t.co/yjAsZtRnK6

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After the dust settled, Doc Rivers was a lot less hard on Ben Simmons on Monday. He even thinks there could be a ‘plan’ to help the point guard fix his shooting woes this offseason.

“I believe, without going into detail with what we’re doing, I believe we know what the right work is, and the right type of work, and the right way to do it,” Rivers said when asked why this offseason will be different as far as Simmons’ shooting goes to ESPN. “You can do the work all the time, but if it’s not done in the right way and the right type of work, you may not improve.

“After being here for a year, I really do believe we’ve identified what and how, and now we have to do the do part. We have to work to do it. It’s not going to be an easy job. But it’s definitely a job that Ben can do.”

After a historically awful performance for Ben Simmons from the free throw line, Doc Rivers thinks there could still be some light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re not hiding that Ben has to become a better free throw shooter and a more confident free throw shooter,” Rivers said. “If that happens, I really believe a lot of other parts of his game follows. I said that, if you remember, before the season started. First thing I said was, ‘We got to get him to the line 10 times a night.’ And to want to get to the line 10 times a night. So we’ve got to put in work so he can get there. But if we can get him there, man, his game goes to a different level.”

Even after saying he wasn’t sure if Ben Simmons could be the point guard on a championship-caliber team, Doc Rivers said that he still thinks Simmons can be a star in the NBA.

“I am positive in Ben,” Rivers said. “I’m very bullish on Ben still. But there’s work. There’s work. There is. And Ben will be willing to do it. Sometimes you have to go through stuff to see it, and be honest with it.

“Obviously what Ben just went through … I can’t imagine that. Because he has so much greatness in all the things around him that he does, and there’s areas he can fix quickly, in my opinion, and get better, that will take him to another level. And you know, sometimes you don’t know why you’re in different places, you know what I mean? But this may be one of them, and I look at this as a great challenge but definitely a doable one.”

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