I hate to sound like a jerk with no feelings for a human being but...
It might be better that he does play and is limited bc of it. Might be better to have an ineffective Simmons then having a player plugged in his place that mesh’s better with Emblid...a non-lane clogging shooter, if that even exists on Philly roster, idk.
My point is sometimes a “superstar” playing hurt is detrimental to a team instead of rolling with the Ewing effect potential.
The issue with Simmons is that he's their best defender IMO. Don't think they can replace that
Yeah he is one of their most talented players both on off and def. I can't see any way that him being injured doesn't really hurt Philly's chances of advancing in the playoffs. It hurts their overall depth as well.
Yeah, they'll either have to start Horford or Thybulle, or maybe Korkmaz if they want shooting. Completely changes them on both ends. I doubt Horford gets the nod because he does not fit alongside Embiid at all.
Probably Thybulle I guess. Defensive versatility, and is decent enough at hitting open threes. Their team is going to play verrrry differently.
I'm not sure that it is a straightforward as Horford and Embiid don't fit together. I was going to suggest that it was more Simmons, Horford and Embiid not fitting well together:
2 man lineup GP W L Min ORtg DRtg Net
.A. Horford, .J. Embiid 42 26 16 575 102.2 102.2 0.0
3 man lineup GP W L Min ORtg DRtg Net
.A. Horford, .J. Embiid, .B. Simmons 34 20 14 432 98.7 99.5 -0.8
but even that may not be straightforward as the following has been an effective 5 man lineup.
.A. Horford, .T. Harris, .J. Embiid, 23 13 10 246 105.4 96.9 8.4
.J. Richardson, .B. Simmons
Losing Simmons will hurt their transition offense and depth but those matters less in the playoffs. Losing Simmons will hurt their defense but how much will depend on who they are facing. On the other hand, losing Simmons may well help their half court offense.