Warning: HOT TAKE thread...where Simmons gonna go?

[Iggloo]

Ben Simmons and his Sixers teammates after this series

 

[shopson67]

You sure about that? He doesn’t fit with Zion real well.

His stats are almost identical the past two years. 24 out of 62 with Zion to all 61 with Zion.

 

[Iggloo]

Shaq was never afraid to shoot, certainly never afraid to dunk. Totally different situation.

I think a Zach Lavine for Simmons trade, that's the kind of move you will likely see, with other players/picks to make it work for both sides.

Even that realistically may be too much to ask for Simmons at this point.

 

[shopson67]

Ben Simmons and his Sixers teammates after this series

 

[Iggloo]

The best part is when he misses the ocean trying to throw it back!

 

[DJ Fieri]

You sure about that? He doesn’t fit with Zion real well.

On a scale of 1-10 I would say my confidence on that is at an 8.

 

[msgkings322]

The best part is when he misses the ocean trying to throw it back!

 

[tlance]

Well let me put it this way: 1. You get a less than stellar return for Simmons OR 2. Pass up those offers and pay him max?

Paying him max can hurt your future more at this point.

Simmons isn’t a FA until 2025.

That should be the last thing Philly is thinking about right now. Lots of time.

 

[tlance]

It’s going to be hard to offload him now. The reason people make trades is to hopefully put themselves in the position the sixers were just in. How Simmons performed in that situation is not ever going to fade from memories. And no, the Thunder won’t be involved.

Why not?

This is a vintage Thunder trade.

Throw a low ball offer of Kemba and a pick.

Give him a chance to reinvent himself in a low pressure environment.

Maybe he blossoms and you keep him as another piece alongside SGA. Or if you don’t like his salary, you flip him once he rebuilds his value.

Very low risk move for a team who won’t really be competing until 2024 at the earliest.

And no, I would not do a deal like this if I were running the 6ers, but based on just how low people are on him at the moment you never know.

 

[tlance]

From public perception, it just doesn't look like Simmons likes basketball. As you mentioned, Embiid is at minimum, a top 10 NBA player and has improved every year. When he loses, you can tell that shit hurts to him. Simmons on the other hand, has been in the league for a few years and there's no noteable area of improvement, unless he just simply peaked in college; which is highly doubtful.

That is very possible.

He didn’t win in college either. He might be a guy who doesn’t ever capitalize on his immense talent.

And yet still, the 6ers lose by trading him for peanuts now.

 

[thunderc]

Why not?

This is a vintage Thunder trade.

Throw a low ball offer of Kemba and a pick.

Give him a chance to reinvent himself in a low pressure environment.

Maybe he blossoms and you keep him as another piece alongside SGA. Or if you don’t like his salary, you flip him once he rebuilds his value.

Very low risk move for a team who won’t really be competing until 2024 at the earliest.

And no, I would not do a deal like this if I were running the 6ers, but based on just how low people are on him at the moment you never know.

I just saw where Doc Rivers was asked if Simmons can be a pg on a title team. His response was “I don’t know”. I’d say his days in Philly are over. After all the years of failure caused by not getting shooters though I’m not interested for the Thunder.

 

[tlance]

It's not an overreaction, at least not from me. Well, it may be fair to say its an overreaction to people saying he's garbage, but not to people looking to trade him. I was out on the Simmons/Embiid pairing last year and was down to trade him then. Thought they should have went all in on that Simmons/Harden swap, though there's mixed reports on if Tillman Fertitta was gonna trade with Philly because of Morey. I've never liked that Simmons/Embiid fit. Simmons lack of even looking to shoot just doesn't work next to Embiid. It gets exposed every time they get into the playoffs because opposing teams can gameplan Simmons out of the game because of his weaknesses. Only time its worked (ish) is when they had Butler and Redick because they had other scoring options on the floor (and that's why I said at the time it was a giant mistake to pay Harris/Horford instead of a full courtship to get Butler back).

Simmons hasn't changed his game in years. The same flaws are there. Mentally, he's even in a worse spot than he's been. It's not going to work. Only way the Sixers can get better is if they can bring in a 3rd star (like Butler was), but they don't have the tools to do so. So now they're basically stuck as long as they have a Simmons/Embiid pairing. They'll always be a good regular season team with a capped playoff ceiling of never really being title contenders. Embiid is the better player so Simmons is the guy that's got to go. He is an all star and young so there's enough value there to get a pretty good return with players that will be a better fit.

Yeah, to clarify, I am fine with the idea of trading him as long as they can return a similarly talented player who fits better.

Maybe like Russ Westbrook (I know, for not ideal either, but he is a gamer) or somebody like that. A vet that can help them win next year.

If they are purely dumping salary which is what some Philly fans have suggested, then Philly is done.

And yes, I would be on board for a Simmons/Russ trade. Especially if the Wizards can snake an asset or 2 along with him.

 

[tlance]

I just saw where Doc Rivers was asked if Simmons can be a pg on a title team. His response was “I don’t know”. I’d say his days in Philly are over. After all the years of failure caused by not getting shooters though I’m not interested for the Thunder.

I hear you, but look at what the Thunder did with CP3 and Al Horford.

They were toxic contracts nobody wanted before going to OKC.

If he isn’t your long term answer, at least you can rebuild his confidence and flip him once he gets his groove back. If he does, you would return a lot more than you got for the other 2 previously mentioned.

 

[Heatles84]

That is very possible.

He didn’t win in college either. He might be a guy who doesn’t ever capitalize on his immense talent.

And yet still, the 6ers lose by trading him for peanuts now.

They're definitely in a precarious situation right now.

 

[tlance]

They're definitely in a precarious situation right now.

For sure.

Definitely not an easy call

 

[thunderc]

I hear you, but look at what the Thunder did with CP3 and Al Horford.

They were toxic contracts nobody wanted before going to OKC.

If he isn’t your long term answer, at least you can rebuild his confidence and flip him once he gets his groove back. If he does, you would return a lot more than you got for the other 2 previously mentioned.

I get where you are coming from and yes Presti has made a living with toxic contracts, let’s not forget about Westbrook. Presti is a genius on a lot of fronts but I think he gets too much of a pass for failing to surround Durant with shooters. With his track record though you definitely could be correct.

 

[Iggloo]

Let me know when Presti wins something. Yes, he is good at collecting assets, but at some point you have to try and win.

 

[Iggloo]

Rivers: 76ers have plan to help out Simmons

The 76ers have a plan to address Ben Simmons' shooting woes that will involve doing "the right work" and doing it "the right way," coach Doc Rivers said Monday.

www.espn.com

 

[flyerhawk]

We should dismiss 99% of the current talk about trading Simmons. He had a terrible series and everyone has that fresh in their memories. But he is hardly the first player to lose his confidence in the playoffs.

The notion that the Sixers will just dump him for loose change is ridiculous regardless of how most Sixers fans feel right now.

 

[CitySushi]

Who would have guessed that I wouldn't want to trade Andrew Wiggins for Ben Simmons or Kristaps Porzingas.

Wow.