The Philadelphia 76ers should swap All-Star point guards.
With the trade deadline being less than a month away, rumors have been lurking that the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors might consider a Ben Simmons–D’Angelo Russell swap. Here’s why fans may be hitting the pause button too early on this one.
This season Ben Simmons is averaging 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Yes, this is very respectable as an NBA player, but the concern is this is actually his career-low in all three major statistical categories. What does this say? It says that Ben Simmons hasn’t taken that leap forward with his game.
On the other hand, you can say that D’Angelo Russel has. This season he is averaging a career-high 23 points, six assists, and three rebounds. Over the course of Russell’s five-year tenure in the NBA, he has shown his ability to grow his game.
So you look and say, what am I gaining and losing from this trade if I’m the Sixers? Well, let’s start with what you’re gaining. You are gaining a guard who can hit the three and penetrate, while still dishing out almost the same amount of assists as Simmons. At the same time, you are essentially fixing the spacing problem that the Sixers currently have, and still have a player who can push the ball up court and in transition.
The biggest concern that Russell would fix, however, is the spacing in the halfcourt offense. This gives the Sixers time to slow the ball with Joel and finally have a guy who can hit the three effectively.
So what are you losing with this trade? Two things, defense and rebounding. While Simmons is making a case to be an All-Defensive player this year, he also rebounds at an impressive rate. That is not enough to be a deal-breaker in this situation.
This trade ultimately would fix the Sixers spacing problem and give the Sixers a huge boost scoring wise from the outside, which is essential in winning big playoff games.