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2018-19 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Jonathon Simmons

By Philip Rossman-Reich

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Orlando Magic Forward Jonathon Simmons (17) elevating to the basket during the Orlando Magic against Los Angeles Lakers NBA game on November 25, 2018, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Icon Sportswire)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Orlando Magic Forward Jonathon Simmons (17) elevating to the basket during the Orlando Magic against Los Angeles Lakers NBA game on November 25, 2018, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Icon Sportswire) /
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Jonathon Simmons, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets
ORLANDO, FL – DECEMBER 5: Jonathon Simmons #17 of the Orlando Magic drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets on December 5, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Good and the Bad

Per Game Table
Tm G GS MP FG% 3P% eFG% FT% TRB AST STL TOV PTS
TOT 56 9 19.0 .380 .269 .420 .742 2.3 2.3 0.5 1.2 6.5
ORL 41 9 20.6 .364 .229 .397 .778 2.4 2.3 0.4 1.4 6.9
PHI 15 0 14.6 .453 .429 .523 .640 1.7 2.2 0.7 0.8 5.5
258 69 20.5 .443 .317 .484 .756 2.4 1.9 0.6 1.3 8.3

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2019.

The expectations for Jonathon Simmons was to challenge for the sixth man spot. He had a stellar first year in Orlando, averaging 13.9 points per game and shooting a 51.1 percent effective field goal percentage with that increased usage. He had some major scoring outbursts that brought a lot of faith in his ability.

Simmons still had his flaws. He was hunting for his shot a lot and it was inconsistent at best. But he showed the potential he could reach sixth-man status. That seems to be where the Magic had him pegged for the start of the season.

But his injury was a serious issue. His wrist surgery kept him out until the beginning of training camp. He virtually could do no basketball work until camp started. Coach Steve Clifford wanted to be patient with him and give him the time to recover. But it just was not coming.

Simmons was struggling to shoot. And that only highlighted his high usage rate. He took 7.0  field goal attempts per game (down from 11.0 last year when he played more minutes) and 12.2 field goal attempts per 36 minutes. Simmons posted a 19.3 percent usage rate, slightly down from the previous year.

Related Story. 2019 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Jonathon Simmons. light

His role quickly diminished as the season went on. He was never breaking out of his funk or finding his rhythm. It was frustrating and disappointing.

The Magic just could not get anything going with Simmons on the floor. The team had a 98.6 offensive rating with Simmons on the floor.

Of course, Simmons was part of those original bench units that did not do much on the floor together. He was part of the problems with that group. And replacing him with Wesley Iwundu did not solve much of those problems as Steve Clifford sought a more consistent rotation.

Simmons officially left the rotation on Jan. 7, just before the midpoint of the season. It was probably too long. It was clear a rotation change was needed. And it came very slowly.

Simmons was never able to get himself into a rhythm or put all the pieces together. It made him expendable by the end of the season.