What would it take to get Ben Simmons?

[Jamaaliver]

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[HMFFL]

Reporting? No pay day and suddenly he's willing to show up! That's not chicken feed money, that's mega millions !!
Around these parts of the country, we say: "Money talks and B.S. walks!" Can't blame him. Millions in the deal.

What would it take to get Ben? More than I would be willing to pay, I'm afraid.

Someone is going to trade for Simmons. I just hope he goes west...

Do your job, show up, and things will eventually go your way. Everybody knows he doesn't want to be there, so of he shows up, I expect Philly to try to move him to one of his desired locations. Golden State or the LA Lakers

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[jayu70]

:lol:

Reporting? No pay day and suddenly he's willing to show up! That's not chicken feed money, that's mega millions !!
Around these parts of the country, we say: "Money talks and B.S. walks!" Can't blame him. Millions in the deal.

What would it take to get Ben? More than I would be willing to pay, I'm afraid.

Someone is going to trade for Simmons. I just hope he goes west...

When you expect to receive +$8 million and suddenly you don’t.....

[kg01]

Reporting? No pay day and suddenly he's willing to show up! That's not chicken feed money, that's mega millions !!
Around these parts of the country, we say: "Money talks and B.S. walks!" Can't blame him. Millions in the deal.

What would it take to get Ben? More than I would be willing to pay, I'm afraid.

Someone is going to trade for Simmons. I just hope he goes west...

Do your job, show up, and things will eventually go your way. Everybody knows he doesn't want to be there, so of he shows up, I expect Philly to try to move him to one of his desired locations. Golden State or the LA Lakers

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

I agree with you.

I say, if you wanna get moved, best thing to do is show up ... and unplug the copiers, knock over the water coolers (all of 'em), take a poop in GLLLLenn Rivers' office (not his bathroom), join a scrimmage and score for the other team a couple times, then walk out.

You'll be moved by lunchtime.

So, like I said, you and I appear to be on the same page.

[atlantabbq99]

How about two first round picks for Ben, or something similar to the Holiday Bucks trade?

[Jamaaliver]

A surprisingly solid read...

The Hawks Should Look into A Ben Simmons Trade with the 76ers



The Hawks have dealt with lineup questions, a lack of “oomph” defensively (27th in defensive rating), an adjustment period to let-’em-play officiating, a who-gets-to-the-rim-besides-Trae problem, a tough opening schedule and a stronger conference overall.

They are currently the losers of five straight, tied with the Hornets for the longest skid in the conference. Words like “sacrifice” and “boredom” have been uttered; that ain’t what you want to hear less than a month into a new season.

I have a theory. A question, really: What if the Sixers and Hawks have the answer to each other’s problems?

Why haven’t we explored the possibility of Simmons as a Hawk?

On the Sixers’ side, they haven’t missed Simmons too much. They’re 8-4, sporting a top-five offense and defense in the half-court, per Cleaning The Glass. This is where they stand while getting zero production from Simmons’ roster spot; one would think that replacing that spot with someone who actually wants to play there would be a positive.

And for the Hawks, Simmons could solve a bit of their squad’s on-court issues.

Young is averaging 20.8 drives per game, and is taking 9.2 shots via drives per NBA.com tracking data. Bogdanovic is second on the team in drives… at 6.8. Simmons has averaged north of 10 in all but one season of his career; he averaged 9.9 during the 2018-19 campaign, operating in a phone booth while splitting ball-handling duties with Jimmy Butler.

Simmons, despite his own self-creation limits, is an elite creator of offense for others. From 2018 to 2021, only Russell Westbrook (747) has assisted on more three-pointers (694) than Simmons. Young ranks No. 6 in that time frame with 650 helpers. That drive-and-kick dynamic would be a nice complement to Young, who leads NBA in rim-assists (947) during that stretch.

It’s fun to imagine a Young-Simmons pick-and-roll tandem. Simmons has the finishing and playmaking chops to be a devastating short-roll guy. On one hand, he’s never had a ball-handler as dynamic as Young to set him up. On the other, he hasn’t consistently screened hard enough to maximize his opportunities as a roll-man.

As the Hawks have seemingly leaned into more switching this season, is there a better fit for that kind of scheme than Simmons? Having Simmons in the frontcourt could open up a world of grab-and-go sequences that can’t be replicated by anyone else in their frontcourt.

(Well, there’s rookster Jalen Johnson, but he isn’t on the main roster right now, much less in the big-boy rotation.)

And to that point: the Hawks are 19th in transition frequency this year after ranking 20th the season before.

The Sixers have ranked seventh, eighth, 15th (the Al Horford season) and fifth in transition frequency over the past four seasons, mostly off the strength of Simmons pushing the pace.

There are half-court questions to be had, dependent on lineups. What would a potential Simmons-Collins-Capela frontcourt look like, especially when Simmons isn’t involved in ball-screens? Of course, that’s making the assumption that all three would play together.

If the Hawks are intent on switching as much as they have been this season, they could opt to start Simmons and Collins up front and really lean into that style. If Capela — off to a slow start on both ends this year — becomes the odd man out entirely, there are teams (DAL, CHA, BKN, TOR) that make sense as suitors when he’s trade-eligible this offseason.

The real question is one I admittedly don’t have a great answer to, that question is: What would the Sixers want from the Hawks?

Aside from the optics of trading with the team that just beat you in the postseason, it would take some creativity from Atlanta’s side to appease Daryl Morey. The good news is the Hawks have the salary and pieces necessary to put together intriguing packages.

Even if we were to work under the assumption that Young and Collins are off the table, the Hawks have three young pieces (De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Onyeka Okongwu) who could potentially serve as a headliner, mid-to-high salary vets that could bolster Philadelphia’s rotation and most of their future picks moving forward.

The important thing here is that there’s a conversation to be had between the two sides.

Simmons and the Sixers are primed for a divorce. The Hawks are primed for a consolidation deal. It’s at least worth exploring if these two can make magic.

EURWeb.com

[epfou1]

One of Hunter / Reddish
Gallinari
Wright

For

Simmons and Thybulle.

This would massively improve the Hawks defense.

[HMFFL]

I don't think we can justify paying Ben $33 to $40 million per session. I don't believe it makes any sense to do so and have to give up so much to acquire him.

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[Jamaaliver]

Credit to Jayu for bringing the report to the board.

Read on Twitter

The makings of a trade to get Ben here:

Gallinari to Sacramento for Buddy Hield (They get cap relief and perhaps a future draft pick)
Hield, Cam Reddish, Jalen Johnson and Hawks 2022 1st rounder to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons
Simmons to Atlanta


Hawks rotations stays largely the same:

Capela
Collins
Hunter
Bogdan
Trae

with Huerter, Okongwu and Simmons off the bench.

Next season, we'd have to dump further salary to avoid the tax, but moving Capela for pennies on the dollar seems viable with Simmons and Okongwu ready to take over minutes at C in the future.

[GutUNC]

Credit to Jayu for bringing the report to the board.

Read on Twitter

The makings of a trade to get Ben here:

Gallinari to Sacramento for Buddy Hield (They get cap relief and perhaps a future draft pick)
Hield, Cam Reddish, Jalen Johnson and Hawks 2022 1st rounder to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons
Simmons to Atlanta


Hawks rotations stays largely the same:

Capela
Collins
Hunter
Bogdan
Trae

with Huerter, Okongwu and Simmons off the bench.

Next season, we'd have to dump further salary to avoid the tax, but moving Capela for pennies on the dollar seems viable with Simmons and Okongwu ready to take over minutes at C in the future.

Cam Reddish, a bad contract and a pair of late 1sts isn't terribly appealing.

[Jamaaliver]

Cam Reddish, a bad contract and a pair of late 1sts isn't terribly appealing.

[Jamaaliver]

The Hawks would not part with Trae Young in any potential deal, but they have several other young players who could be intriguing to the Sixers. A package of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Cam Reddish and Delon Wright (along with draft picks) works under the cap, but none of those players are the type of difference-makers Morey has targeted. Atlanta could sub out Wright for Kevin Huerter, but even then it's a package of three players who don't have All-Star talent for a player who was building a Hall of Fame resume.

The Hawks would also potentially balk at moving three rotation players for one highly disgruntled star, no matter how talented.

The best avenue for the Sixers likely remains finding a one-for-one deal with another team that needs a shakeup.

Bleacher Report

[Ell Curry]

My guess would be Bogdanovic to Philly, Gallinari and Okongwu to rebuilding team X and a solid not old yet starter like Jerami Grant or Derrick White to Philly.

[Spud2nique]

The Hawks would not part with Trae Young in any potential deal, but they have several other young players who could be intriguing to the Sixers. A package of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Cam Reddish and Delon Wright (along with draft picks) works under the cap, but none of those players are the type of difference-makers Morey has targeted. Atlanta could sub out Wright for Kevin Huerter, but even then it's a package of three players who don't have All-Star talent for a player who was building a Hall of Fame resume.

The Hawks would also potentially balk at moving three rotation players for one highly disgruntled star, no matter how talented.

The best avenue for the Sixers likely remains finding a one-for-one deal with another team that needs a shakeup.

Bleacher Report

You must be excited. You been wanted this for a min now.

[GutUNC]

My guess would be Bogdanovic to Philly, Gallinari and Okongwu to rebuilding team X and a solid not old yet starter like Jerami Grant or Derrick White to Philly.

Why would a rebuilding team have any interest in Gallinari?

[Jamaaliver]

Why would a rebuilding team have any interest in Gallinari?

Oh boy. We keep answering the same question over and over again...

Gallinari would be included as a matching salary for a high salaried player. His contract is NOT fully guaranteed next season, allowing us to match salaries in trade and a rebuilding team to move a veteran player this year and get salary cap relief next year

[leo7]

Ben Simmons small ball 5? What would the starting line up be?

Trae
???
Hunter (This guy needs to stay healthy)
Collins
Simmons

[HMFFL]

Ben Simmons small ball 5? What would the starting line up be?

Trae
???
Hunter (This guy needs to stay healthy)
Collins
Simmons

I thought Simmons wasn't willing to play a large amount of minutes at the 5?

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[leo7]

Ben Simmons small ball 5? What would the starting line up be?

Trae
???
Hunter (This guy needs to stay healthy)
Collins
Simmons

I thought Simmons wasn't willing to play a large amount of minutes at the 5?

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I forgot he doesn't want to play the 5.

[CP War Hawks]

Morey treats Simmons like he has pre melt down value. He's not reading the room, I don't expect anything to get resolved by the deadline. They likely wait it out into the off season.