The Shanxi men's basketball team signed Jonathan Simmons, who has arrived in Shanxi and is about to start training with zhang Ning and other teammates. CBA fans are no strangers to Jonathan Simmons, who played in 16 games for Liaoning in 2020-21, averaging only 9 points, 2.4 boards and 1.6 assists per game, shooting 52.7% from the field and 34.8% from three-point range.
On December 1, 2020, Simmons officially signed with Liaoning, and on January 14, 2021, Liaoning announced that he signed a contract. Although Simmons only played for Liaoning for more than a month, the data is not good, but he has staged a buckle that can be called the top ten of the year in the game! Even Yang Ming on the sidelines opened his mouth wide and looked directly stunned!
Jonathan Simmons is 32 years old, 1.98 meters tall and has excellent physical fitness! His shooting ability is average, and he only shoots 31.7% from three-point range in his entire NBA career. Simmons is positioned as a front guard swingman, he is also not good at organizing tandem, in the liaoning and Zhejiang matches, Simmons was beaten 2+1 by Wang Zailu's single defensive steals.
In fact, Simmons' growth story is also very inspiring, he was the 2012 draft. He ran at the age of 23, and in addition to athletic ability, there were almost no characteristics in other aspects, and the NBA team did not look up to him. Simmons didn't give up, playing a season in the American Basketball League (ABL) and then joining the NBA Development League in September 2013.
Simmons played two seasons in the Development League, where he played for the Austin Spurs, an affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs. In the summer of 2015, simmons, 26, continued to storm the NBA, playing summer league games for the Nets and Spurs. Not only did Simmons lead the Spurs to the Summer League title, he himself was named Summer League FMVP!
Simmons' two seasons of hard work in the development league, combined with his outstanding performances in the summer league, eventually impressed the Spurs. On July 23, 2015, the San Antonio Spurs signed Simmons for two years and $1.4 million, and he finally realized his NBA dream at the age of 26. From 2012 to 2015, he struggled for three full years!
In the 2015-16 season, Simmons averaged 6 points, 1.7 boards and 1.1 assist per game; in the 2016-17 season, Simmons averaged 6.2 points, 2.1 boards and 1.6 assists per game in the regular season, averaged 10.5 points, 1.9 boards and 1.9 assists per game in the playoffs, and averaged 15.3 points per game in the Western Conference Finals (Spurs vs Warriors) 15.3 points, 2.8 boards and 3.3 assists per game. Simmons became famous in one game, and in the 2017 offseason, more than 10 teams were chasing him.
Simmons eventually joined the Magic for $20 million in 3 years, and at the age of 28, he finally got a big contract. Salaries for three years are 6.3 million, 6 million and 5.7 million, respectively, and the final year of the guarantee is only $1 million. In the 2017-18 season, Simmons played his career-best performance, averaging 13.9 points, 3.5 boards and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 46.5% from the field and 33.8% from three-point range.
I thought Simmons could play a better performance at the Magic, but I didn't expect that his stats would be in the same downward pattern as his salary. In the 2018-19 season, Simmons' scoring average plummeted to 6.9 points per game, and he was sent to Philadelphia in the Fultz trade and then to the Wizards. In July 2019, Simmons was cut and said goodbye to the NBA.
Simmons' NBA career lasts just 4 seasons, which is about the average career length of an NBA player. In the 2019-20 season, Simmons joined the Santa Cruz Warriors in an attempt to return to the NBA, but unfortunately did not succeed. Simmons is good defensive, good at breaking through and dunking, but doesn't have a strong personal scoring ability!
Are you optimistic about Simmons' prospects in the Shanxi men's basketball team?