Jun 20, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons warms up before game seven of the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia has a Ben Simmons problem. After a nightmare series out of the 76ers’ point guard where he proved to be a liability during Philly’s shocking Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Hawks—followed by an offseason of posturing and the expectation that he reportedly expected to be traded to a team of his choosing by now—the Sixers are a circus.
The offensively deficient point guard reportedly is content to sit out games and forfeit money if he isn’t traded to a desireable team. His teammates reportedly tried to meet with him in Los Angeles recently and convince him to suit up to start the season. Simmons wasn’t having it. He’s digging in—for now—and hoping the situation gets so uncomfortable that Philly blinks and finds a suitor that makes sense. Simmons hasn’t reported to training camp with the season’s tip only three weeks away and it’s clearly pissing people off. Joel Embiid’s lamenting the loss of Jimmy Butler in free agency a few summers ago—because of Simmons’s supposed objections—and the center offered up the most biting take yet about the Simmons drama.
“The situation is weird, disappointing, borderline kind of disrespectful to all the guys that are out here fighting for their lives,” Embiid told reporters Sept. 30. “Some guys rely on the team being successful to stay in the league and make money somehow. Because if you’re on a winning team, you’re always going to have a spot in the league, just because you’re on a winning team and you contributed.”
How we got to this point is a long and circuitous, but it all came to a head this past spring after the former No. 1 pick and franchise cornerstone put up horrifying numbers against Atlanta and shied away from attacking the basket or contact that would send him to the free throw line where he struggled mightily. Simmons summed up his poor performance following Game 7 succinctly.
“Offensively, I wasn’t there. I didn’t do enough for my teammates,” Simmons said. “There’s a lot of things that I need to work on.”
A lot would be an understatement. Whether you want to talk about his non-existent jump shot, his fear of getting fouled, or his shocking metamorphosis from regular-season juggernaut to a player that arguably shouldn’t have been on the court during crunch time in the postseason, it kind of feels like the whole Embiid x Simmons experiment has finally run its course. Simmons reportedly is done with the idea of playing next to Jojo. The Process, the genius of former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, essentially died an embarrassing and exasperating public death.
So that means the Sixers, at some point, have to flip Simmons for a package of something because they sure as hell can’t run it back again after that incredible flameout—Philly blew leads of 18 and 26 points in separate games during the Atlanta series and losing Game 7 at home just can’t happen—and all this offseason drama. Simmons, at only 25, still has plenty of upside should he ever commit himself to becoming a serviceable shooter. But his limitations stifled the Sixers in the postseason where your warts are magnified and only the craziest of Philly fanatics would advocate keeping Simmons on the roster after what we witnessed.
While Simmons deserves all the props for his defense and making things difficult for Trae Young at times, even coach Doc Rivers couldn’t give his point guard a vote of confidence after the loss when he was asked if the 76ers could win a title with Simmons.
“I don’t know that question or the answer to that right now,” Rivers said. “So I don’t know the answer to that.”
Knee jerk reactions following deflating losses often look ridiculous a few weeks and even a few months afterward. But it seems like a trade has to be on the horizon because this is easily the most uncomfortable situation the NBA has seen since Butler forced his way out of Minnesota three Novembers ago.
What Will He Bring Back?
A 25-year-old three-time All-Star who has made multiple appearances on the NBA’s All-Defensive squads usually does not become available. But there are reasons we’ve arrived at this point and Simmons’s issues offensively—that he admitted became a mental thing against Atlanta since he didn’t attempt a shot in the fourth quarter of Games 4-7—will absolutely curtail the kind of return Philadelphia can get for him.
The days of Simmons bringing back somebody of the caliber of James Harden appear to be over. Remember, Philly was rumored to have offered its point guard in a package for the Beard back in January. Sixers fans wish the trigger had been pulled on that deal. Whether it really ever got close to happening, largely assumed for political reasons revolving around Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and his former team, is up for debate. And it seemingly doesn’t make sense for Philly to trade him for a bunch of first-round draft picks when they’re in a win-now mentality, although we all know picks do come in handy for other transactions.
Aside from his shortcomings, don’t overlook Simmons’s financial situation playing a big role in what he returns. Simmons signed a max extension two summers ago and has $140 million due to him over the next four seasons. That’s a massive number for any team to pay a player who willfully passed up a dunk in Game 7 because he was afraid of going to the free throw line. Simmons shot a horrific 33.3 percent (15-of-45) on his freebies in the series and while every basketball fan knew you couldn’t rely on him to hit a shot outside the paint, it’s still kind of nuts that an All-Star with his athletic gifts and size seized up when it mattered most. If he was headed to free agency this summer, would any team pay him that much money?
So I wrote all of the above to point out the return ain’t going to be great for Simmons. Recency bias is going to hurt Philly big time when it’s at the bargaining table and the idea of a rebuilding team giving up multiple unprotected first-round picks for Simmons or a team like Washington offering up Bradley Beal in exchange feels ludicrous. Dealing Simmons could even cost Philadelphia a future pick.
Maybe Kemba Walker getting shipped to Oklahoma City can serve as a roadmap. The Celtics had to attach a first-round pick and a future second-round pick to Walker, a point guard with his own deficiencies, injury history, and a huge salary, to get Al Horford (and Moses Brown) back. That was basically a classic problem-for-a-problem NBA swap right there. The veteran Horford wasn’t going to return to OKC after the team told him he wouldn’t play the final few months of the season while Walker didn’t turn out to be a great fit in Boston, either. The Russell Westbrook and John Wall trade qualifies as another notable transaction that could serve as template. The Wizards had to sweeten the pot and add a first-round pick to get rid of Wall who had a ton of money remaining on his deal and was coming off of almost two seasons of inactivity.
Since Simmons is younger and generally more durable than Wall and Walker attaching a first-round pick to him feels excessive. That being said, it might be necessary. The Sixers do have a first-rounder in the next four drafts.
Where Could He Land?
We did this in January when Beal was rumored to be headed out of DC. Spare me your farcical trade machine proposals. They might be fun to fuck around with, but let’s operate within the realm of reality for this exercise. And that makes trading Simmons a lot harder. Always remember that the trade proposals we in the media come up with are overly simplistic and don’t forget what ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks told Complex Sports this past winter when it comes to trades in the Association.
“How does it help both teams? How is it a win-win?” Marks said.
Know that Morey isn’t going to ship Simmons off for nothing and also keep in mind the agency that represents Simmons—Klutch Sports. Remember their track record of steering high-profile clients—like Anthony Davis—to specific markets/teams. Would Klutch be cool with Simmons spending the next few seasons in a small market like Cleveland or Sacramento? Also know that should Simmons end up getting traded it’ll probably end up being a way more complicated and intricate deal than we came up with because that’s almost always the case. Regardless, here are a few reasonable trades featuring Simmons that would shake up the Sixers.
Simmons for McCollum
The hypothetical trade you’ll hear referenced most often, and that arguably makes the greatest amount of sense for both sides, would be a Simmons for CJ McCollum swap. Note that we will not feature a Simmons for Damian Lillard trade since the extremely loyal Lillard went on the record as training camps kicked off that he’s fully committed to Portland. For now.
“I’ve always seen everything through,” Lillard told reporters. “Whether it was relationships, whether it was people telling me you shouldn’t be doing music, whether it was I don’t know how much I really want to compete in the Olympics and then I ended up doing it—it was all a part of where I am now. I’ve always been a person that, I go out on my shield. Every time I’ve had a fight, every time I was a part of something, I go out on my shield. Those things that I stuck with and these were the end results of it, that’s what keeps me here. What keeps me here is, I want to see it through. I want to see it happen. I mean what I say.”
Numerous insiders and NBA trade speculators have already floated the idea of shipping Lillard’s right-hand man to Philly who obviously could use McCollum’s scoring prowess. Simmons and Lillard in the pick-and-roll could potentially be a nightmare for defenses to combat in Portland. And we all know the Blazers have professed a serious need to upgrade its defense that has been subpar the past few seasons. The salaries aren’t far off since McCollum makes nearly $31 million compared to Simmons’s $33 million. Additionals like a pick may need to be thrown in since Portland’s taking on more money, but maybe this is another problem-for-problem swap that’s beneficial for both.
Simmons for Siakam
Closer to Philadelphia, the Knicks continue to have point guard problems and conceivably have the draft capital plus enough young players to make a run at Simmons if they wanted. The Raptors could as well, especially since Kyle Lowry took his talents to South Beach and Toronto surprised a lot of people by not drafting Jalen Suggs, opting instead for Scottie Barnes. Pascal Siakam, the 2018-19 Most Improved Player, hasn’t quite taken that next step like many expected since his breakout season, but he’s a better scorer than Simmons. Swapping those two for each other is absolutely doable, you just wonder if adding Siakam is a little redundant when the Sixers already have Tobias Harris. Most importantly, it’s tough fathoming the 76ers dealing a former foundational piece to a division rival. But stranger things have happened in the NBA.
Simmons for Wiggins
It’s doable because of the salaries, but there are way more reasons to not do this swap if you’re both squads than pulling the trigger. Maybe they can get a third team involved.
For starters, I’m one of those individuals that seriously questions why you would have Simmons and Draymond Green on the court together, especially during the playoffs since both are such liabilities offensively. But Klay Thompson is back for the Warriors and Steph Curry has another capable scorer to take some of the load off him. I don’t think Philly does this swap because it doesn’t address their glarring hole at point guard by shipping Simmons for Wiggins, whose game shares some similarities to that of Tobias Harris. But if things get desparate, maybe Golden State can fleece an extra first-rounder out of Philly.
Simmons for Russell
The Timberwolves have been mentioned by plenty of prognosticators as a logical landing spot for Simmons. Swapping Simmons for Russell, arguably the exact opposite kind of player, could be done in a heartbeat because the salaries are so close. Simmons would add an element of defense and play-making missing from the Wolves, who reportedly remain intrigued with the idea of adding Simmons. The Sixers throw in a protected first-round pick because Simmons has so much money remaining on his contract that they have to sweeten the pot just a little in our scenario here. Out of all the rumored destinations, Minnesota feels like the best/easiest fit. But would Klutch be cool with Simmons working in the NBA’s coldest climate?