BEN Simmons has looked like a different player in March.

A 15-assist, 0-turnover game against the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday was just one of a multitude of impressive performances where the rookie found his teammates with an increased level of ease.

Already composed beyond his years when the 2017-18 regular season began, Simmons has seemingly taken another step up. You can put it down to the Australian becoming more and more comfortable with Brett Brown’s offensive schemes, or simply getting to know the tendencies of his teammates a lot better; but there’s one clear difference on the court, and it’s led to a more productive Simmons.

“He was really unique tonight,” Brown said, after his team’s win over the Hornets. “With the pace he played, finding shooters.”

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On February 12, the Philadelphia 76ers signed Marco Belinelli. On the last day of that month, Ersan Ilyasova returned for his second stint with the franchise. Both were added to bolster the 76ers’ playoff push and both Europeans are regarded among the league’s more proficient shooters.

Belinelli effectively replaced Jerryd Bayless in Brown’s rotation, while Trevor Booker was waived in order to make way for the signing of Ilyasova. The introduction of the pair obviously added a much-needed veteran presence to a relatively young team, but also led to a team that could stretch the floor that little bit better; ideal, considering the team’s two best players — Simmons and Joel Embiid — dominate the paint.

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The 76ers have played 10 games with a healthy line, with both Belinelli and Ilyasova, and Simmons’ distribution has subsequently climbed.

Simmons has posted a triple-double in three of his past four outings, and is averaging 10.6 assists per game, over the past 10 games. That’s compared to the 7.4 assists per game he averaged before the addition of the two European shooters. The Melbourne native is also averaging less turnovers — just 2.7 a game, compared to 3.6 — a likely by-product of a paint that’s less clogged.

The efficiency surrounding Simmons’ distribution has also improved, with the point guard posting an assist percentage — an estimated percentage of field goals assisted by Simmons when he’s on the court — of 42.7 over the past 10 games, which is up from 33.4 over the previous 58 games.

The numbers point to a clear growth from Simmons, with his production and efficiency — with regard to his distribution, in particular — increasing simultaneously, despite him playing less minutes.

The idea of spacing was always something that would benefit Simmons once he reached the NBA — something he admitted at the end of his time with LSU — and the personnel decisions from the 76ers’ front office have only helped their star rookie’s development.

Brett Brown talks with Ben Simmons. Source: AP

There’ll always be multiple shooters on the floor for the 76ers, which is something Brown pointed out, post game, on Tuesday.

“We really got something out of Marco. J.J. (Redick) had a down game; Marco came in, and that’s the beauty of the Marco-J.J. decision,” Brown said.

“We’ve experienced with Dario and Ersan, a similar type of thing.”

Simmons’ nine triple-doubles as a rookie, or his third triple-double in the past four games, will stand out as the sexy stat-line, but, dig deeper, and you’ll notice the inception of a trend.

It’s simply the nature of surrounding a 6’10 point guard who has a tendency to get on the rim, with high-level shooters who know their respective roles. Simmons is a more effective NBA player because of those two signings, and the 76ers, so far, are a better team for it.

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Olgun Uluc covers basketball for Fox Sports Australia. Twitter: @OlgunUluc