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Ben Simmons has established himself as an elite NBA player. Simmons is in his fourth season in the league, and he already has Rookie of the Year honors, two All-Star nods, and a First-Team All-Defense selection to his name. He's annually among the league leaders in assists per game (he's fifth in the NBA this season with eight assists per game), and he has Defensive Player of the Year potential. So far this season though, Simmons appears to have stagnated offensively, as he hasn't been playing with the same level of consistent aggression that we've grown accustomed to seeing from him. While what could be described as sporadic timidness on offense from Simmons hasn't prevented the Sixers from stacking up wins early in the season, it could ultimately become a concern for Philadelphia, especially come postseason play. 

The fact that Simmons is having a down year offensively becomes evident when scrolling his basic counting stats. Simmons still hasn't expanded his repertoire to include a perimeter shot, and so far this season he's averaging a career-low in points per game (13.0), field goal attempts per game (9.2), and field goal percentage (52 percent). He's also averaging a career-high 3.5 turnovers per game. 

The trend continues when you wade into the advanced stats section of Simmons' Basketball Reference page. While his Defensive Box Plus/Minus (a stat that measures a player's defensive impact) is at a career-high (2.6) this season, his Offensive Box Plus/Minus (a stat that measures, you guessed it, a player's offensive impact) is at a career-low (.1). In turn, his resulting Box Plus/Minus, and his Value Over Replacement Player (or VORP) are both also at a career-low. His turnover percentage is also at a career-high 23.6. This is all a fancy way of saying that Simmons has been struggling on the offensive end. 

The main issue appears to be a lack of aggression. Simmons' assist numbers are still high, but he hasn't consistently hunted his own shots. Simmons attempted 10 or more field goals in just two of his past eight games. In a couple of those games, the Sixers were without MVP candidate Joel Embiid, and they would have benefitted from Simmons stepping up on the offensive end. Instead, in losses to the Pistons and Grizzlies without Embiid, Simmons took a total of 18 shots and made eight of them. This is a troubling trend given the fact that the Sixers are at their best when Simmons is in attack mode like he was early on against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night when he went right at LeBron James in order to convert two early baskets: 

When Simmons is aggressive like that it draws defenses in and, in turn, opens things up for the others on the floor. For Simmons, being aggressive and hunting for his own offense doesn't equate to chucking up shots from the perimeter. It simply means using his rare combination of size, speed and athleticism to get into the paint, attack the rim, and exploit mismatches, like he did against the Lakers when he had the smaller Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on him late in the second quarter:  

Simmons has the ability to make similar plays consistently, but sometimes this season it appears as though he isn't even considering trying to score: 

So, why has Simmons seemed to struggle on the offensive end this season? There are a few factors that could potentially be at work. First, Simmons is in a new system under a new coach. Before this season, Brett Brown was the only coach that Simmons ever suited up for. Now, he's the lead guard in Doc Rivers' offense, and he could still be in the process of finding his footing. There's also the possibility that he's still dealing with some lingering soreness from the knee surgery he underwent over the offseason -- though Simmons has denied that this is the case. Lastly, he could be in his own head a bit after hearing his name mentioned in James Harden-related rumors earlier this season. Though he took the situation in stride, feeling like you might be moved could be jarring, especially for a player that's never been traded. 

Whatever the reasons, Simmons' approach when it comes to being aggressive can be adjusted, as it's at least partly mental. For Simmons, walking the line between being aggressive and setting the table for his teammates has been a bit of an internal struggle this season.

"Personally, myself I might get caught up in trying to get guys shots and gets guys into a rhythm," Simmons said after the Sixers 107-106 victory over the Lakers. "It's not easy being a point guard and doing that so it's just trying to find that balance of when to be aggressive and get to the rim and score and find my guys."

And that's what it's all about: balance. Simmons doesn't need to attempt five 3-pointers, or 25 shots a game. He just needs to remain consistently aggressive over the course of contests, while continuing to spread the ball around. Sixers coach Doc Rivers insists that he doesn't care about a dip in Simmons' offensive production, and that makes sense since Simmons is still a positive player even when he isn't piling up the points. But, the Sixers become especially tough to beat when Simmons is getting out in transition, playing downhill, putting pressure on the defense and attacking the rim, and his aim should be to do so consistently.