25. Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young is the primary maestro of the Atlanta Hawks and hasn’t been knowing to be able to play off the ball well. Adding Simmons to that mix would make things difficult on offense with Young being the primary ball-handler and Clint Capela being a non-shooter. It’s just not a good fit.
24. Utah Jazz
There’s no doubt that Donovan Mitchell could use a teammate like Simmons, however, Simmons’ overall fit on the Utah Jazz would be poor and it’s for one reason. He and Rudy Gobert can’t share a floor offensively. They’d arguably be the best defensive duo in NBA history, but the fit on offense would be awful.
23. Denver Nuggets
If Nikola Jokic would be willing to become a secondary playmaker, then the fit between him and Simmons could work. However, considering Jokic just won MVP for being the best playmaking big in the NBA, that’s doubtful. Simmons would be fit into a peg as a defensive power forward which doesn’t maximize his skills as a playmaker.
22. Dallas Mavericks
Like with Young, Luka Doncic doesn’t do much off the ball so his fit with Simmons wouldn’t be seamless. The rest of the roster would work with Simmons, but with his fit with Doncic in question, the Dallas Mavericks aren’t a great fit for the Philadelphia 76ers playmaker because of that fact.
21. Toronto Raptors
This ranking is subject to change depending on what the Toronto Raptors sent out in a Simmons deal. If Pascal Siakam is gone, then the fit gets better, but if he’s not, then it gets worse. It’s not that Simmons would make the Raptors worse, but he wouldn’t make them significantly better either.