Ben Simmons is still on the market and there hasn’t been much movement in getting a deal done as of late from the Philadelphia 76ers. Like when FanSided’s Swarm and Sting came up with potential trades for Simmons, I will also be grading proposed Simmons deals from Austin Carroll of A Royal Pain.
The Sacramento Kings have been connected to Simmons and despite it appearing that they are unwilling to include their best players, it didn’t stop Carroll to come up with some interesting hypothetical trades.
It should be noted that like with the grading of the proposed Charlotte Hornets deals, I will be coming up with my own counter offer at the end. With that being written, let’s begin.
Grading 3 potential Simmons trades from Kings: Star swap
Carroll’s first package is pretty straightforward in terms of talent and no picks included. It’s clear that he’s slightly biased about how he feels about De’Aaron Fox‘s future potential.
Tyrese Maxey is a deal-breaker for me in this one. Simmons is still the better player than Fox and Marvin Bagley III doesn’t make the deal even in terms of value for the Sixers. Then including Maxey would be too much for Philly.
The pairing of Fox and Joel Embiid would be good but isn’t perfect by any stretch. Fox still struggles as a 3-point shooter and might get to league average at best. There’s also a big defensive drop-off that isn’t addressed in the return of this deal.
Bagley III still has potential and needs a fresh start but it shouldn’t be on the Sixers. He’d be a backup or possible third string center on this roster and he needs a place where he can be the second or third option on offense to have a chance to grow.
Grade: C-