One Skill Ben Simmons Could Immediately Help Mentor Darius Acuff In

In the quiet days of the offseason, the Sacramento Kings are making waves around the NBA world as they look at Ben Simmons as a late free agent addition. Simmons may not have played in the league last year, but he still brings a cache with his name that is hard to replicate for the rest of the remaining free agents.

Scott Perry and the rest of the Kings front office seem set to bring in another veteran guard to round out the roster, and while Simmons isn't a true point guard due to his size, he certainly fits that bill with his skill set.

The other item on Perry's checklist is bringing in a mentor for seventh overall pick Darius Acuff Jr. With no veteran point guard on the team, Acuff stands alone as the only true point guard on the team. Malik Monk is still on the roster, and Emanuel Sharp has the size of a point guard, but the game of a two-guard. That leaves a glaring hole on the roster heading into the season, and shows why Perry is working so hard to finalize the roster with a veteran guard.

While Simmons meets the goal of being a point guard from a skill perspective, he doesn't quite fit the mold of a veteran mentor for Acuff. The two don't truly play the same position, and Simmons has had an up-and-down career, to say the least, and doesn't bring the same level of stability that some of the other veteran options may be able to provide for the Kings.

But you can argue that Simmons has one skill that he could immediately mentor Acuff in, as his passing instincts and ability to set up teammates at an elite level.

Simmons Passing

Along with his size, Simmons' passing set him apart and allowed him to affect the game even without a threat of a three-point shot. He certainly doesn't qualify as an elite passer anymore given his time away, but that knowledge and innate ability doesn't just go away.

Nice to see Ben Simmons making fun passes again and nice shot from Royce O'Neale. His ability to hit those makes him the X-Factor for me pic.twitter.com/KzORgwyw9s
— Steve Jones (@stevejones20) October 3, 2022

Acuff's scoring ability is generally the first thing that people bring up, but he has the potential to be an elite playmaker as well. He showed off his court vision during Summer League as he was consistently a pass ahead of the defense, and that passing should look even better when he gets on the court with the NBA squad and they (hopefully) start knocking down the good looks he's creating for them.

Pairing Acuff with Simmons, who averaged 7.2 assists per game over his seven-year career, could help accelerate that skill set for the seventh-overall pick. It would also give the Kings a chance to always have a table-setter on the court, which is something they struggled with last season.

It may not feel like the ideal mentorship, but in the NBA, talent can often reign supreme. The Kings will have to decide if they value the stability of a veteran mentor and locker room presence in a player like Victor Oladipo, or if they want to swing for the fences for the mentorship role and hope Simmons can recreate some of the magic that landed him as the number one pick years ago.

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