This was the 76ers’ plan all along, that Ben Simmons would become a point guard at 6-10, a real point guard, defending the position and everything, not a point power forward in some positional word play. Not right away, when the transition from LSU freshman to NBA rookie would be enough of a cram session, but eventually.

And then came last Thursday, when the timeline changed, the Sixers as must-see TV with a terrible record changed, coach Brett Brown publicly changed, and the candidates for Rookie of the Year may have changed.

Simmons will be a point guard when he returns from a fractured right foot, Brown announced. Right away.

Brown in an interview with NBA.com in July, before the foot injury: “Everyone gets all twisted on what their version of a point guard is. When I say point guard I mean point guard. You’ve got the ball. You could call him Isiah Thomas, the old Isiah Thomas of my generation. You could call him Chris Paul. I mean point guard point guard. There are times I think that he can be a point guard. Not Draymond Green. Not LeBron. Not Lamar Odom. That's a point forward. I walk both lines at different moments. To start him off, we’ll play him as a point forward.”

Brown to Philadelphia reporters last week: “I felt like initially to just say, ‘Welcome to the NBA, 19 year old who’s never played a point guard in your life, and here’s the gym, here’s the ball’ was borderline cruel, was not very responsible. I think as time has unfolded, talking more with him, seeing the team we have, studying more and more and more what he actually brings to the table, I want to try it.”

The new timing of the old plan probably won't impact Simmons’ ranking among first-year players – he would have had the ball in his hands a lot anyway as the point forward, leading the ball with great vision and the ability to pass on the run or from half-court. With what has been an underwhelming class through the first quarter of 2016-17, he could have made a quick climb up the Rookie Ladder at any position, even with the January debut the 76ers project. And no one is catching teammate Joel Embiid if Embiid stays healthy and maintains anything close to the current pace.

Simmons as a true point guard as a rookie will be a fascinating watch, though, especially if he really does defend the position. Will his drive-and-kick create many more opportunities for Embiid? Will Simmons be able to hit shots from the perimeter? Will checking opposing guards take him away from the basket so often that his projected strength of being able to grab the defensive rebound, turn and run the break himself be neutralized?

Just when it seemed Simmons’ delayed debut couldn’t get more interesting, it just did, and that does impact the rest of the rookie class. Among those playing now:

1. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Last week: 1

So much for the plan to limit him to 24 minutes until about Christmas. Embiid was cleared last Wednesday, weeks ahead of schedule, for as many as 28 minutes per night, although playing both ends of back-to-backs is still off the table. The restriction has cost him two of the last four games. That plus the game against the Kings postponed by moisture on the court means the clear front runner for Rookie of the Year will likely have had just two appearances between Nov. 28 and Thursday, Dec. 8, at New Orleans.