Anfernee Simons’ Sixers tenure has gotten off to an odd start.
He missed basically all of training camp and didn’t play in any preseason games. His first game as a Sixer — and first time taking the court with a bunch of new teammates — came on opening night against the defending champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He acquitted himself well as he went 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-8 from deep for 13 crucial points in a narrow victory.
That’s why Simons is here — to provide spacing and
scoring punch off the bench.
Unfortunately, Simons looked more like a guy who missed all of preseason over the next three games, going 3-of-21 from the field and 2-of-13 from three.
Simons spoke after practice Tuesday on what he does to get out of a rough shooting patch.
“I think it just depends on like the time of the season,” he said. “It’s early, so I’m able to do a little bit more. Usually, if I’m struggling for a couple games, I might just want to go out on the court and see the ball go through the hoop a whole bunch of times. So I might get a whole bunch of reps in. Or just do 30 minutes, kind of a hard workout, just to feel back in the rhythm.”
Well, whatever he did worked to perfection.
He broke out of that slump Wednesday, and not a moment too soon.
Simons dropped 20 points in the Sixers’ 114-109 win over the Indiana Pacers, knocking down six triples. The Sixers only got two such games (20-plus points, six-plus threes) from a bench player in 2025-26. In a game the Sixers didn’t play their best basketball, they needed every single one of Simons’ points.
His marksmanship from three was critical. Every Sixer not named Anfernee Simons shot a combined 7-of-26 from deep — 5-of-24 before a pair of late clutch triples from Tyrese Maxey.
If there’s anyone who knows the value of playing with an elite shooter, it’s Joel Embiid. His two-man game with JJ Redick was lethal. Same for his partnership with Seth Curry. And we all know what he’s been able to do with Maxey.
It might not be a coincidence that Embiid had his most efficient offensive performance of the season while Simons was going off.
“Obviously, we added a few guys this summer,” Embiid said postgame last Saturday, “but he was probably the one I was most excited about because I just love that type of dynamic shooter. I’ve had JJ, I’ve had a couple guys that I felt like I could help them a lot — create space and make plays for them and put them in position to succeed. …
“And also get them paid.”
It’s worth noting Simons’ contract has a player option for 2027-28, so a strong showing in Philly could lead to a nice payday.
As a team, the Sixers have not shot the three-ball well at 32.6%. It’s not likely to be a strength of this group, but they will need guys to make them. Funny enough, Simons, Dean Wade and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have been three of their best shooters. That’s exactly what they need from that trio.
Even with the most elite shooters, there are going to be ups and downs.
But the Sixers will happily ride the wave as long as Simons can swing the occasional game like he did Wednesday.
“You can see now a little bit, not playing and not being able to play in preseason kind of held me back a little bit,” Simons said Tuesday. “We’re gonna be able to see throughout these first 20 games how [the shots are] gonna look. I’ll be able to get comfortable with what type of shots I’ll get on a game-to-game basis. Just get comfortable with those type of looks, and so I think it’s gonna come in time.”
