Ben Simmons trade roundtable: Sixers, Warriors, Kings blockbuster
PROPOSED BY: MATT CAHILL
Sixers also receive: 2022 first-round pick swap (SAC), 2026 first-round pick swap (GSW)
Okay, first things first. There are no Ben Simmons trade suggestions that will make everyone happy. Someone will think the Sixers are giving up too much while someone else will think we didn’t get enough. We can all agree to disagree and hopefully just see this as a fun little exercise. Agree or disagree, this trade is cap legal and works in one way or another for all three teams. Here it goes!
Because Simmons is such an unusual player it will be very hard to do a straight up one-for-one deal, so the best options for a good return are probably going to come in a three-team trade. Based upon the stories that Golden State tried to trade Wiggins, WIseman, and their two first-round picks for Ben on draft night (but were scared off when Morey tried to include three additional first-round picks), I revisited that but included Sacramento. Let’s check out the deal and then go through why each team would make this trade and the bullet that each team would have to agree to bite. There are always pros and cons to every deal!
Why does Golden State make this trade?
Simmons’ skill set (passing, cutting, screening, elite defense) has long been considered to be a perfect match with the Warriors movement based scheme. The Warriors have been involved in the Simmons rumors all summer, so there is clearly interest on their side. Ben would love to be in a more relaxed, low-key location and would probably thrive under established leadership that lays down the law immediately while still trying to build up his role and his confidence.
This is a “win now” move for the Warriors to push in all their chips with the current core. A flexible lineup of Curry, Thompson, Simmons, Green, Looney, Porter Jr., Iguodala, Poole, and Bagley III would be extremely formidable on both sides of the ball and immediately put Golden State back in contention to win it all. They walk away with the best player in this deal and if they can unlock the Simmons enigma, perhaps instead of an All-Star they gain a superstar.
It’s no secret that Golden State has been openly trying to unload Wiggins and Wiseman, so the only negative elements to this deal for the Warriors and their fans is giving up their two prized rookies, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, but you can’t get something for nothing and this is the price of doing business in the NBA.
Golden State would need to bite the bullet
Bagley III has not played up to his $11 million salary and was considered a malcontent in Sac-town, but this is another player with loads of talent who has All-Star potential who would probably thrive in this environment. If it fails, they can move on from him after this year but if it works they may gain a stud for the future. An expensive dice roll with a very high ceiling.
Why does Sacramento make this trade?
The Kings’ best three young assets all play point guard (Fox, Haliburton, and Mitchell). They need to make a move to balance out their roster while they are still comfortably in control of the situation. Fox is their star and he’s happy in Sacramento, so they need to hold onto him with two hands.
Yes, Wiggins has long been considered to be lazy, but he seemed to reinvent himself in Golden State and learned that defense is also part of the game, so if he buys in he could be a valuable scorer and decent defender to grow with the young core. Like Tobias Harris, he will never be worth his contract but he can still be a terrific player in the right situation. Also, his contract expires one year earlier than Hield’s, so they are one year closer to financial control.
Wiseman has been discussed like he has been a flop but the Warriors are not suited for all styles and this is a guy who was considered to be the best player in his class leaving high school just two years ago. The potential for stardom is very much still there.
Milton is a pure scorer with defensive issues but he has been buried under a more talented Sixers bench. He would step right into the Kings’ starting lineup and average 20 next to Fox. The Kings are not making the playoffs this season no matter what. This team would score a lot of points and play fun, exciting basketball, at least on one side of the floor. Putting fans in the seats should be a victory and this team would do that. A lineup of Fox, Shake, Wiggins, Barnes, Holmes, Mitchell, Harkless, Wiseman, and Thompson would be more balanced than they are currently and would score buckets in bunches.
Sacramento would need to bite the bullet
They are getting rid of their two biggest headaches in Hield and Bagley lll, which should improve the locker room immediately. Addition by subtraction. They will have to get rid of a promising young player who the fans love in Haliburton, but they have a logjam at the point guard spot and something has to give.
After Fox, Mitchell is the only possible young asset that the Kings have, but if Milton can become a proven starter and scorer and Wiseman shows why he was the second pick in the 2020 draft, they can add to their war chest for future deals or keep them and see how far this young group can go.
Why does Philadelphia make this trade?
The Sixers are giving up the best player in this deal, so they should be the team that gets the best return. This entire deal boils down to whether or not you happen to believe in Tyrese Haliburton, because he is the key to this deal. If you don’t like him, then obviously you would hate this deal and walk away. But Haliburton projects as a future star and if you could get in on the ground floor of Mike Conley or Jrue Holiday (don’t start with me, Process haters!) just as they were about to blow up, wouldn’t you do that?
In a few years, Haliburton could be one of the best point guards in the league, and if last year is his floor then the sky is the limit for his ceiling. Trading Simmons is not about getting the best players, it’s about getting the players who will best compliment Joel Embiid. Haliburton is an efficiency stud right now who will only continue to grow and improve, and running a team with this much offensive talent will help this young point guard hit the ground running.
He is a lights out shooter from mid-range, 3-point range, and the free throw line, and he rarely makes mistakes or turns the ball over. He does not get to the line a lot but he knocks them down and does not hide from the spotlight. His rebounds were down last year because he was forced to play out of position at shooting guard, but he is 6-foot-5 with long arms, rebounds and passes like a veteran, and is a really good one-on-one defender with great help instincts. The only knock is on Haliburton is a little skinny and was sometimes beat up by physical guards, but he has already added 10 pounds of muscle and will continue to grow.
Hield is a younger version of Seth Curry and a proven 20-point scorer who shoots nine 3s a game at a career 40 percent clip. He has been openly unhappy in Sacramento but with a clear role on a winning team he would thrive.
Kuminga and Moody are seriously talented young assets who would have time to grow off the bench without pressure. A starting lineup of Haliburton, Hield, Green, Harris, and Embiid would surround Joel with outstanding shooters all around the horn and open up the floor in a way that Jo has never seen. Double team him and everyone else pours in 3s. The buckets would flow.
Bringing Maxey, Curry, Korkmaz, Niang, and Drummond off the bench would be very little dropoff and would leave the “four snipers outside, one banger inside” look of the starting unit. Having Kuminga, Moody, Reed, and Joe at the end of the bench gives them a unit that can survive injuries or Covid absences. This team would be insanely deep, which means that if Lillard should become available in February, the Sixers would still have enough young assets to compete for him in a bidding war, and the pick swaps only help that cause.
Philadelphia would need to bite the bullet
If Simmons ever finally begins to live up to his potential and becomes a Superstar somewhere else this organization will get killed in the media. They would hear about it non-stop for years. Whatever deal they make for Ben, it had better pay off.