The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the more scrutinized teams in the league led by their star duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. They have had the talent to go deep into the playoffs in recent years, but they have continued to come up short in the postseason.

Now that coach Doc Rivers is in tow and president Daryl Morey is there to help turn the team around after a tough 2019-20 season, the Sixers are expected to make a serious title run.

Their hopes will come down to the two stars. Embiid seems to have taken the next step in his career as he is squarely in the MVP conversation a month into the season, but Simmons has not taken the steps forward offensively that some would like to see.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith went on First Take to discuss the Sixers and their title hopes and he puts it all on Simmons and him finding a jump shot:

What it comes down to is Ben Simmons being on the court and being a threat offensively. If he’s a threat, if he’s somebody that you have to pay attention to, it’s going to free up shot opportunities for other people, including Embiid, along with others. If you don’t do that, you essentially get to play 4-on-5 basketball against the Philadelphia 76ers, particularly with Ben Simmons not being a perimeter threat. We know he can take the ball into the hole and finish at the basket and score there, but when you can score from the perimeter, it opens the floodgates for you offensively. And that’s what Ben Simmons needs to do. I don’t care what anybody says. Speaking to Daryl Morey last night, acknowledged it to some degree, obviously, Doc Rivers thinks otherwise, you have to in my estimation, be able to shoot jump shots in order for you to win the chip, if you are the Philadelphia 76ers. You need Ben Simmons to be able to be some kind of threat to keep opposing defenses honest, if not, it will come back to bite you when it really counts, not during the regular season. Not during the early rounds of the playoffs, but eventually it will come back to bite you against the elite teams.

Simmons is one of the tougher guys in the league to really judge. He is one of the top players in the game, no argument there, and he does so many elite things on the floor that go unnoticed due to his lack of offensive game. These are things that must be addressed as the team moves forward.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!