ANFERNEE Simons

Simons came back against the Knicks on October 20 and the Sixers won. He finished with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 0 assists in 25.3 minutes. His plus-minus was minus-5.0, so the team was outscored during his time on the floor even though Philadelphia got the win. That is a reasonable first night back for a player who had a hamstring issue a week earlier. The 25.3 minutes line up almost exactly with the 24.9 minutes per game he averaged last season, which suggests the staff did not ease him in with a hard cap. The scoring came without any assists, so the playmaking side of his game was quiet. Fans should expect that to change as he gets more reps with his new teammates.

Simons played 55 games for the Bulls in 2025-26. He averaged 14.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 24.9 minutes a night. He shot 44.0 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from three and 89.6 percent from the line. His true shooting percentage was 57.6 and his usage rate was 22.7. He added 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks with 1.2 turnovers per game, and his plus-minus was 1.8. The free-throw number stands out. At 89.6 percent he is the kind of guard a coach wants holding the ball late. The three-point mark of 38.5 percent fits a team that needs floor spacing around its primary creators. The 55 games also point to a player who missed time last season, which is part of why the October rest and hamstring entries drew attention.

The stretch from February 1 to February 21 shows both sides of Simons as a scorer. He put up 27 points in 24.8 minutes in a win over Milwaukee on February 1. He followed with 22 points against Toronto, 15 against Denver with 6 assists, and 23 points with 7 assists against Brooklyn on February 9, though Chicago lost all three. He had 7 points in a loss to Boston on February 11 and 20 points in a loss to Toronto on February 19. His last entry from that run was 4 points in 12.9 minutes in a loss to Detroit on February 21. Six losses in seven games is a rough sample, but the scoring came in bunches. The Brooklyn and Denver games show he can run some offense when asked, with 7 and 6 assists.

Simons has been a regular topic in Sixers coverage since training camp. A Sixers Notes report dated September 14 grouped him with Wade, Barlow and Edwards in a piece that also touched on title hopes. Another Sixers Notes item on September 30 paired his name with load management and with Maxey and Wade. None of that is a done deal or a formal plan. It is reporting, and it should be treated as such. Still, the rest designation on October 5 and the hamstring note on October 12 fit the load management theme those reports raised. If Philadelphia is managing his minutes early, the 25.3 minutes against New York may be close to what the regular workload looks like for now.

The first thing is health. Simons is clear today, and the Sixers need him to stay that way after a hamstring issue in the second week of October. The second thing is the assist column. He had 0 assists in his return and averaged 2.4 last season, so a few games with 6 or 7 like the ones he had in February would signal he is being used as more than a spot-up scorer. The third is shooting efficiency. He hit 38.5 percent from three and 89.6 percent from the line last season. If those numbers carry over, he gives Philadelphia a reliable second-unit scorer and a late-game free-throw option. For a team with title hopes in the headlines, that is a useful piece.