Indiana Pacers: 10 reasons why trading for Ben Simmons is a step backwards

How Ben Simmons makes the Indiana Pacers more exploitable on offense

Reason #5: The Indiana Pacers will have substantially less shooting

Last season, the Indiana Pacers averaged 12.3 three-point makes and 34.0 attempts per game, both good for 18th in the league. If the team trades Brogdon away for a non-shooter like Simmons, the Blue and Gold’s perimeter offense will take a nosedive, especially with the team already below average from downtown in recent years.

Taking Brogdon away from the equation, the Pacers will tally a measly 9.7 makes and 27.3 attempts from downtown per outing, with both marks ranking dead last in the league behind San Antonio, the league’s poster team of mid-range jumpers. And with Doug McDermott facing free agency, possibly aggravating the issue, Indiana will be taking on the dangerous risk of bannering a funky offense bereft of three-point shots with Simmons at the helm.

Reason #6: Simmons will make the team more vulnerable in the clutch

If there’s anything that the Atlanta series revealed, it’s that Ben Simmons’ lack of acuity with shooting the basketball from virtually anywhere outside the paint makes him marginal in late game situations where the pace is substantially slower than any other portion of the contest. With the Pacers already one of the worst clutch teams in the NBA last season, a nightmare may be brewing here.

Simmons’ paltry 34.2 percent free throw shooting in the playoffs is too small of a sample size to make a wide claim with it, but nevertheless, the charity stripe is, well, his mortal enemy. His well-documented struggle at the line was the primary reason behind his mind-boggling meekness in fourth quarters, with Simmons not attempting a single field goal in five of the seven games in the semis against the Hawks. His career 59.7 percent on freebies is simply fuel to the Indiana clutch situation fire.