Ben Simmons is best compared with other point forwards by role, not by asking who is simply better. NBA.com lists the 6-foot-10 guard-forward at 14.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game across his first six NBA seasons, covering 2017–24. Draymond Green is a useful reference for defense and connective passing, Scottie Pippen for wing-forward playmaking, and LeBron James for frontcourt creation at a much greater scoring volume—but their stats come from different career windows and roles.
How does Ben Simmons compare to other point forwards?
“Point forward” describes a job more than a standardized position: a bigger player who initiates offense, handles the ball and creates for teammates, often while defending forwards or multiple positions. A point guard is usually defined by the backcourt position; a point forward may be listed at guard, forward or both. The label alone does not establish how much a player runs an offense, scores, or defends.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
For comparison, separate four questions: how much the player creates, what defensive evidence exists, how he scores and shoots, and what role his team asks him to fill. NBA.com’s player pages offer useful career context, but the figures below are not a same-season ranking or a controlled head-to-head comparison.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
| Player | Comparison role | Published statistical context |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Simmons | Size, passing volume and transition/rim-oriented offense | 14.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game across his first six NBA seasons (2017–24); .560 field-goal and .589 free-throw percentages, per his NBA.com bio. |
| Draymond Green | Defense and connective passing | 8.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game across the 11-season window through 2022–23, per his NBA.com bio. |
| Scottie Pippen | Wing-forward playmaking reference | 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game for his career, per his NBA.com profile. |
| LeBron James | Frontcourt creation with far greater scoring responsibility | NBA.com says he has the most assists among all frontcourt players in NBA history. His bio lists 28.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in 287 playoff games. |
These figures describe different spans: Simmons’ first six seasons, Green through 2022–23, Pippen’s career, and LeBron’s playoffs for the stated playoff averages. They show why each player is a useful role reference, not where each would rank in a shared season.
#1 Best Overall
Is Ben Simmons a good playmaker and defender?
Playmaking: assess creation, not assists alone
Simmons’ 7.4 assists per game in the cited 2017–24 career window are the highest of the four reference figures above, but the comparison is not like-for-like. Green’s 5.6 per game is from an 11-season window through 2022–23; Pippen’s 5.2 is a career average; and LeBron’s cited 7.2 applies to 287 playoff games. A sound comparison would also account for minutes, turnovers, usage, teammates and the player’s responsibility to initiate offense.
The numbers support describing Simmons as a high-volume passer for his size. They do not, by themselves, measure passing quality, decision-making under pressure or overall offensive value.
Rank #2
Defense: distinguish recognition from measured outcomes
NBA.com named Green the 2016–17 Defensive Player of the Year, and his bio records 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game across the cited 11 seasons through 2022–23. Steals and blocks capture only some defensive actions, however; they cannot establish who is the better defender across different assignments, schemes and eras.
A separate NBA.com film study reported that opponents shot 41.7% on analyzed attempts defended by Simmons, compared with 46.2% expected. He ranked ninth among 312 players who met that study’s threshold of 300 defended shots. Those figures apply to that article’s defined sample, not every shot he defended or his entire career. They are evidence of defensive shot impact, not a complete career defensive rating.
How does Simmons’s shooting compare with Green or LeBron?
Do not use field-goal percentage as a stand-in for shooting range. Simmons’ NBA.com bio gives a .560 field-goal percentage and .589 free-throw percentage for the stated 2017–24 career window, but the available profile information here does not establish a full career three-point line. Green’s bio records .449 field-goal, .314 three-point and .712 free-throw percentages through 2022–23. These are different windows and shot profiles, so the figures do not establish a direct shooting ranking.
For Simmons, scoring context matters. In an NBA.com feature about the 2021 All-Star season, he ranked fifth in fast-break points at 4.0 per game and 12th in paint points at 12.1 per game. Those historical season figures indicate transition and paint production; they are not current-season numbers and do not resolve his perimeter shooting. The cited LeBron bio information provides playoff scoring averages, not a comparable shooting breakdown for this question.
Rank #4
- Description|Table of Contents|Editor|Excerpts|Sample Content|20 testing protocols for measuring and assessing athletes strength reactive strength power speed agility endurance and anaerobic capacity|18 total body exercises with 2 variations|19 lower body exercises with 3 variations|17 upper body exercises|11 anatomical core exercises with 5 variations|16 sample programs for off-season preseason in-season and postseason resistance training
A fuller shooting comparison should include three-point attempts and accuracy, free throws, shot volume, paint scoring and willingness to take shots—not one percentage in isolation.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhich comparison should you use?
- For defense and passing that keeps an offense moving: use Green as a role reference, while separating his award recognition from the limited measures of defensive activity.
- For a wing who creates offense: use Pippen’s career 5.2 assists per game as historical context, not a same-era or same-role verdict.
- For the upper end of frontcourt playmaking and scoring responsibility: use LeBron. NBA.com’s bio states, “LeBron has the most assists among all frontcourt players in NBA history,” and lists his playoff averages separately from his regular-season career context.
- For Simmons’ own profile: weigh his size and assist volume alongside his transition and paint scoring, then assess shooting opportunity and defensive assignment rather than forcing a single composite label.
To make any comparison fair, specify season or career window, regular season or playoffs, minutes, role and the metric being used. The available NBA.com material does not provide a common four-player season dataset or a controlled head-to-head comparison, so it cannot support a definitive ranking of these players.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
