Multiple reports this offseason have suggested that Sixers star Ben Simmons would like to be traded to a West Coast team, but it doesn’t sound as if the Warriors are looking to pull the trigger on a deal for the three-time All-Star, as Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle writes.
Simmons spoke to Warriors owner Joe Lacob about the possibility of trading for Simmons, and while Lacob was careful not to mention the 25-year-old by name in an effort to avoid a tampering fine, there was no doubt about which player he was referring to when he discussed a certain “Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Philadelphia.” Lacob said Golden State will always explore avenues to upgrade the roster, but strongly hinted that a trade for Simmons is unlikely.
“In some ways, it doesn’t really fit what we’re doing. He makes a lot of money. And, can he finish games? I don’t know,” Lacob said. “He’s very talented. The problem is: We have Draymond (Green). Draymond and him are very similar in the sense that neither one really shoots and they do a lot of the play-making. That’s one issue. The salary structure is another.”
The Warriors were viewed as a top candidate to make a major trade earlier in the offseason, when they could dangle two 2021 lottery picks in advance of this year’s draft. Once they used those two picks to select Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, a blockbuster deal became less likely for the Dubs, who appear focused on developing their rookies and young center James Wiseman rather than packaging them for a star.
“I like our team,” general manager Bob Myers said, per Simmons. “And I envision that the team we have will be the team that heads into camp and will be the team that starts the season.”
If Golden State isn’t seriously in the running for Simmons, who remains adamant about holding out and forcing a deal, it will take one potential trade partner off the table for the Sixers. However, a number of other suitors have reportedly discussed Simmons with Philadelphia this offseason, including the Timberwolves, Raptors, Spurs, Cavaliers, and Kings, among others.
The only way the Warriors trading for Simmons would make sense would be if the Warriors were wanting to trade Draymond – which they clearly are not. Hopefully Lacob’s comments puts an end to the speculation about Simmons being traded to the Warriors.
I’m curious to see who Blinks first Philadelphia the team that needs to trade Simmons or a team willing to give Philadelphia want they want.
I dont think anybody will want Simmons unless they can see him play actual games first to make sure they aren’t giving up the farm + all the money they’d have to pay him for a guy that might have the yips and may never be the same again.
Raps, it’s obvious by now by watching how things progressed over the summer that no one is giving up the farm for Ben Simmons.
A guy like Ben Simmons you know the known quantities. Defense, ball-handling, pushing the ball, court awareness, unselfishness. He’s always been hesitant to shoot the outside shot and that’s the case today. There’s nothing to see.., you know what you’re getting.
If he’s screwed up a little bit mentally, great teammates can fix that pretty quick. There’s a lot of bonding that locker room and guys picking up each other. It’s more so in baseball because of the mental aspect of the game as opposed to basketball but it happens in hoops too.
Gary,
While I agree that there’s not much else to see in Philly, if you’re trading for Ben Simmons it’s probably because you believe there’s more than what’s been seen to date.
The Philadelphia Ben Simmons Experience is, frankly, not worth a max contract.
However, the Theoretical Ben Simmons In A Different System might be. That’s what you’re trading for, the potential that, whether as a focal point or just placed in a system without a dominant post-up player, Ben Simmons can “reach his potential” given a change of scenery.
Part of the problem is mental… the other problem is that he is a demon ball handling in transition, but kinda sucks and stops the wheels from turning in the half court offense. This was what burned him in the famous final possession of the playoffs.
@raps
there’s nothing else to see. he’s had the yips (poor FT shooting) his entire career. interesting question he posed “can he finish games”? that’s the same question every team will have and it’s impossible to know because the games your concerned about are 4th quarter playoff games.
It’s not a case of “willing” for most teams. With NBA trade rules a lot of teams just can’t, not without vastly overpaying. The Warriors were one of the ones that could, because they have a salary match, in Wiggins, who isn’t an overpay.
Exactly, this is why Wiggs-Ben is like, the ONLY trade that makes sense for both sides, and makes both teams better – and before the smooth brains come in to nit pick, Wiggs is definitely an improvement over a player who will never play for the 76ers ever again.
It’s clearly the former, not the latter. No one is willing to give Philly what they want, which has been a star player (or a young star in the making) plus a first round pick. That’s not gonna happen.
If anyone was even considering doing that, the deal would already have been made. Things are only going to get much worse for the Sixers and they can either let him sit out the season or take a bad trade, those are the only two possible outcomes here. End of story.
Whipmaster, you obviously don’t play poker or sell used cars or life insurance over the phone.
There’s 2 major rules for success.
#1. Never tell everything you know.
Unless you think the Warriors are hiding a desire to trade Draymond, then your used car/insurance sales analogy (thank god I never had a job that sleazy) doesn’t hold water.
Pretty sure they would 1 for 1 Wiggins and figure it out from there.
I don’t entirely agree with that. As Golden State is currently looking at starting Wiseman and Draymond – two guys who can’t shoot. During the pre-Durant run they had Bogut and Draymond.
Playing two guys who don’t/can’t shoot from 3 isn’t and hasn’t been an issue for GSW. And Simmons many other talents, in GSW’s system could theoretically turbo boost the offense.
There may not be a deal that makes sense but I don’t see a Simmons-Green pairing ipso facto being bad.
That worked for Golden State because they had the splash brothers, and maybe still do if Klay can make a full recovery. Most teams don’t have enough shooters to have two players like Draymond and Simmons (or Wiseman, or Bogut) on the court together without clogging up the middle too much. Obviously it has been a big problem for the Sixers with their two stars.
I have never read so much about “guys who cant shoot” then I look and see them averaging 15 PPG before.
When you have the 2 GOAT shooters of all time, does it even matter? No.
The only way I could see Simmons fitting with the warriors without trading green is if klay comes back at his pre injury level,because if Simmons and green are on the court at the same time you absolutely need a legendary shooting tandem to make up for their lack of shooting.
What happens when green and Looney are on the court at the same time? What happened when green and Andrew Bogut were on the floor at the same time? Answer, they played two players lacking outside shooting, and especially with Bogut they had two great Playmakers.
I think the Warriors did just fine in the past with a green and another non-shooter. Here’s one more.. what happened when Green and Zaza pachulia were on the floor at the same time, did they have two non shooters then too?
What’s going on here with Joe lacob is that he’s saying he’s not trading for Ben Simmons when the price is EXTREMELY high. Everyone knows that.
But the Warriors will GLADLY bring in Ben Simmons if the price is right. We all know it’s Andrew Wiggins because of the salary. Joe lacob talks about Ben Simmons salary but Andrew Wiggins makes about the same amount doesn’t he? Gladly ship him out and his marginal do everything pretty well game for a stud on defense and a stud ball-handler and a stud on pushing the ball up the floor. 6-11 vs 6-6.
Before you start, I know that the Sixers are not taking Andrew Wiggins straight up for Ben Simmons. Don’t blow a gasket. But Andrew Wiggins plus whatever can be agreed upon whether pics or players for Ben Simmons could work for both parties. So far it hasn’t and it may never. But the Warriors will gladly take Ben Simmons if the price is right. Joe lacob is a gazillionaire and there’s a reason for that. The interview above here in this article gives us a glimpse why.
Wiggins’ contract expires after next season, while Simmons has an extra 2 years beyond that (I think, without looking it up), and at escalating cost. There is value in that expiring contract since the Dubs are also going to have to pay to eventually extend the rookie deals for Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody. In other words, the Warriors better be damn sure they can fix Simmons before making a deal, or they are stuck in cap and luxury tax hell for another 3-4 years.
Most of the kids wont be seeing big raises till Klay and Dray are on new deals.
Wiggins’ contract expires in 2023, then Simmons’ expires in 2025.
Draymond’s has a player option that will keep him there until 2024, and Klay’s contract also expires in 2024. Not much flexibility there.
I don’t think making a comment that’s a half inch from violating tampering rules is giving us a glimpse of Lacob’s acumen
Can’t play Draymond and Ben Simmons together? Baloney. You ever watch The Warriors offense and they’ve got screens on the left side for Klay and the right side for Steph? That’s not just ONE GUY setting screens !!
Besides, Draymond Green is running screens up top of the key. With kuminga and Moody and Klay coming back mid-season and Steph…, plus Porter perhaps and Bjelica the Warriors have some Shooters. Somebody has to set screens.. it can’t just be one guy Draymond Green.
Simmons will set screens, other guys set screens for each other and roll. Warriors offensive scheme is perfect for Green and Simmons on the floor the same time. Plus they obviously know how to STAGGER MINUTES for a guy to his strengths. Andrew Wiggins was a starter last year, yet played the rest of the game with the second unit LOL. With as deep as the Warriors are their second unit is going to destroy other team’s Reserves.
What’s going on here is the Warriors are just not going to pay a super high price to get Ben Simmons, they’d rather roll it with what they’ve got. There’s no 5 for 1, 6 for 1 coming.
The whole “Ben and Draymond wont work together” thing has never made one iota of sense to me, a person who actually watches games and doesnt live on twitter getting their mind twisted by the worst and dumbest basketball minds in the world lol
That’s two guys who don’t need to be guarded consistently on the floor. Good teams will be playing them 5 on 3
Don’t need to be guarded? How about when the double team comes you flip it to them for a layup or dunk. You better stay with your man LOL
Let’s say Ben is worth $1
Blazers or Warriors can offer 70 cent
Wolves or Kings offer 50 cent
But 76ers original asking price is $3.
So what you’re saying is he’s really worth $5.20.
He’s worth about tree fiddy.
Damn you Loch Ness monster.
Getting Rid of Simmons for a Box of Flattened basketballs is ADDITION through subtraction
Ben Simmons Sux and he has sucked for a long time!!! An overpaid bum and primadonna!!
SMH
Isnt this Ben Simmons the same Ben Simmons that was heralded as the second coming of Magic Johnson and the cornerstone of the Process?
Just asking since I remember the last 5 years…
You remember correctly
Feels like that question should have been answered “No ,comment.”
Exactly.
Feels like Lacob should not be making ANY basketball-related decisions, ever.
The saga continues . . .
The reality is this: The Warrior best offer right now (Wiseman, Wiggins, Kuminga + a pick) still just doesn’t make sense for Philly, even if it’s theoretically fair value. Wiggins plus prospects in Philly leaves the Sixers with a Maxey-Curry-Wiggins-Harris-Embiid starting 5. Don’t see it.
In addition, Ben Simmons, while I think he *could* be a fit in GSW, isn’t an obvious fit for their system, so I doubt they send out serious assets for him when they could instead sit on their hands and wait to see if:
A) Klay comes back at 100%
B) Brad Beal, a much better fit for their system, becomes available by the TD
The only way Simmons ends in Philly is with a 3-team deal, which is a possibility, I guess, but it doesn’t seem incredibly likely right now.
Best offer? None of that is on offer dude. The 1 for 1 swap with Wiggins might be. How much more they would do beyond Wiggins is anyones guess, but judging by the statements, what others are offering, and how badly screwed the 6ers situation is here nobody is getting Wiseman and Kuminga. Maybe maybe its Wiggins and a far future pick.
It’s not really anyone’s guess, because at draft it was heavily rumored the “package” they were offering for Simmons or Beal was Wiggins, Wiseman, 7 + 14, which translates to what I listed above.
But that really wasn’t the point. The point was EVEN IF they offered that (which I agree that, today, they most likely wouldn’t) it still wouldn’t make sense for Philly.
And for the record a 1 for 1 swap for Wiggins is just as absurd as Morey’s Wiseman-Wiggins-7-14-and 8 future firsts.
That’s just nonsensical, even the Ben Simmons Pessimist doesn’t believe Wiggins is an equal value player.
UGH you DONT GET IT!
Its not about equal value!!! Trade value does not = on court value!!!
Yes, Ben is better than Wiggs, but Ben’s trade value now is = to Wiggs. Understand??
No one said trade value = on court value.
No one outside of Golden State Fan-GM’s believe Wiggins for Simmons has ANY chance of happening, end of story. It’s asinine. Understand??
They’ll flip him for McCollum before that.
No one from the main beat writers or anyone with any good team sources said that was on offer. Almost all the good sources on the matter had it that the team called early, asked about the price without making an offer, and laughed and hung up on what was your offer plus 2 future potentially protected picks.
Random NBA media dreamed up a bunch of trades they all assumed were on offer by reading the surface, but the GSW have acted like they have said where. They checked on potentially available stars, got asked for everything because people thought they were desperate, and went with the main plan since they couldnt steal a star. They have been consistent the whole time they will only sell everything if it clearly makes them favorites, and all the players like Giannis that would do that arent available. I think the package they asked for on Simmons would have been available with extra swaps for Embiid, or Jokic, or KD, a healthy Kawhi etc, but they like Wiggins fit as a good role player and arent willing to give up a ton of future value for a marginal upgrade.
At this point the odds are even lower of any trade involving more than one player off the 15 man roster. Mid season if a real difference maker is available we will see what they do, but barring that this is the team.
I think they also realize that Klay may not be himself really till next season, and the value of Wiseman/Kuminga/Moody/even Wiggins could be higher while players they like more could be available. They dont feel rushed, and are reticent to go all in until they see Klay back to full strength without limitations.
Nor did I say that the Beal offer was BEING offered. I simply said their best offer – as in their best possible offer (obviously they’re not trading Dray-Klay-Steph)- is still nonsensical for Philly. Ipso facto Ben isn’t GSW bound.
Should I have typed “best possible offer” instead of “best offer”? Yes. Does it change the overall point of my post? Not particularly.
Bottom line: IMO, there is no deal GSW can make for Simmons that makes sense for Philly without a third team being involved. Trading for future assets makes no sense with Embiid in his prime. Trading for just Andrew Wiggins isn’t enough to keep them in the realm of contention.
You got your facts mixed up. It was widely reported before the draft that the Dubs made that package offer for Beal. The Sixers saw that and tired to offer Simmons to the Warriors for that same package and the Warriors laughed at them and hung up, not the other way around. Depending on who you believe, the best package on the table for them right now is Malik Beasley, Taurean Prince, plus multiple first rounders from the Twolves or Buddy Heild, Marvin Bagley, plus multiple first rounders from the Kings. Wiggins, Moody, and multiple first is the most the Dubs would offer and that would be on par with what the rest of the league is willing to offer.
PS I don’t believe Portland is offering CJ and Covington + a couple firsts like Stephen A reported for Simmons because if they were the Sixers should be all over that offer, they aren’t getting a better one than that. Helps them win now and some assets for the future that they could possible flip for reinforcements come playoff time.
Actually you have your facts mixed up. Philly asked GSW the Beal package PLUS multiple first round picks. That was leaked and reported on this website as well as various other outlets/podcasts.
In any case, as I stated above, my point above wasn’t that the Warriors were offering that package now (I know they’re not). It was that’s the best package (the Beal package) that they can offer for another star (sans offering their big 3, which they’re not doing), and it still makes no sense for Philly.
And I would very much believe PDX would flip CJM + stuff for Simmons. How much other stuff is questionable, but PDX needs to swing for the fences as much as any team right now.
jmoney, I think you nailed every point you made here. I think there’s a lot of accuracy in what you’ve written.
Seems like the three offers on the table that are somewhat public are the three you mentioned Minnesota Sacramento and Wiggins plus stuff. Maybe a dark horse team like Atlanta comes in but I don’t see how any other team gives up a core guy that the Sixers want and remains competitive.
You would want to add Simmons to your core not take away a core guy and plug-in Simmons. That’s why Portland deal is not happening. They like who they are even though everyone else outside of Oregon can see they need to change something.
Nooope. The best offer is Wiggins-Simmons straight up. And that’s about what Ben’s value is right now, being that both the 76ers and himself have done everything to tank his trade value.
LOL
The Warriors have been run like absolute garbage ever since it went all-Lacob. NONE of the Lacobs are basketball minds, they are merely stupid rich guys who are having WAY too much say in how a basketball team should be run.
If Wiggins+picks for Simmons is actually on the table, Lacob is beyond a moron for not taking it. Simmons makes GSW easily the best team in the West. Period. He will play better on a team with actual veterans who have been there before, 76ers problem is too much youth not enough old heads, if Draymond was there I’d bet a million dollars Ben would be shooting like crazy, especially with the two best shooters of all time there to help out.
I don’t think Wiggins plus a couple pics is on the table right now. Like you say, the Warriors would jump on it. But the Sixers are holding out for more right now and each day that goes by, pressure mounts and Desperation sets in.
Like most people mention he’s probably going to Sacramento or Minnesota. Then we won’t hear from Ben Simmons again as he languishes in no-man’s-land for 3 years.