Simmons Prediction Thread

[TheFuture]

The Warriors were just one recent example. How about the Grizzlies of old with Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol? What about the Celtics with Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett? How about this year's Nets with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Joe Harris? How on earth were these teams successful with four players who need the ball? It's pretty groundbreaking stuff here...

The point is that talent wins, especially top tier talent. If that talent fits with each other, then that's even better. Give me a foursome of D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Ben Simmons, and Karl-Anthony Towns and I'll bet my personal net worth on them winning 50-games or more. That's without even considering what the supporting pieces would be.

Rudy Gay didn't need the ball. Neither did Marc, Zach. They all had to be fed the ball in their spots.

Same with KG and Allen.

Why are you so adamant about acquiring a player who has no interest in improving shooting anywhere? It is devastating at the end of playoff games.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The Warriors were just one recent example. How about the Grizzlies of old with Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol? What about the Celtics with Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett? How about this year's Nets with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Joe Harris? How on earth were these teams successful with four players who need the ball? It's pretty groundbreaking stuff here...

The point is that talent wins, especially top tier talent. If that talent fits with each other, then that's even better. Give me a foursome of D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Ben Simmons, and Karl-Anthony Towns and I'll bet my personal net worth on them winning 50-games or more. That's without even considering what the supporting pieces would be.

Talent on both sides of the ball wins even more.

Furthermore, nobody would point at Conely and Gasol as guys who have proven to be effective only with the ball in their hands. Or Garnett or Rondo. Gasol is a DPOY. Conley never reached 12 shots per game until his 7th season in the league. Edwards took 17 per game as a rookie. Russell has never shot fewer than 12... and that was in his rookie season. He's been above 18...

As for the Nets, again... outliers in the mold of GSW. They're playing for NBA championships and legacies... not battling for a .500 record.

But to your point... yes... Russell + Simmons + Towns + Edwards would be highly successful. But how realistic is it that the Wolves pull it off?

So then we're looking at whether...

Russell
Beasley
Edwards
Towns

is better than...

Simmons
Beasley
Edwards
Towns

UNTIL Russell proves he's more impactful than Simmons... and until Russell, Beasley, Edwards and Towns prove they can be better than "poor to awful" defensively, personally I like the 2nd foundation more.

[Wolvesfan21]

The "not enough balls to go around" issue only seems to come up when a team is good and they are trying to make it work. I would love to have the problem of too much talent if I were a coach, gm, or player. If we can get Simmons without giving up Dlo then why the hell not. I think ultimately our talent outside of Kat and Ant (regardless of draft picks) just isn't good enough to land Simmons. Ultimately, I think he will go for more than what the Wolves would be willing to give up even if we included Dlo.

You have to look at what Simmons makes though too. He's VERY highly paid and in many peoples eyes, especially those in Philly say he is damaged goods.

You're not going to get an Ant or Lillard or someone with All Star level talent/potential for him. DLO who is by most of us, also overpaid makes more sense. A good guard on offense who can create and get his own shot. But he also has a history of being poor on defense.

Simmons is going to get traded for much less I think then many presume. For reference here is what James Harden was traded for (a much better player I think most would say).

Nets send center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince to Cleveland, and guard Caris LeVert and forward Rodions Kurucs, as well as three first round draft picks (2022, 2024 and 2026) and four first round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027) to Houston.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

That's exactly right Abe. Gasol made a huge impact defensively in his prime. No one would say that about DLO, Edwards, or KAT. Those three are all one-way offensive players until they prove otherwise, and like Simmons, they need the ball in their hands on offense to make the best use of their strengths. There are some dis-synergies with having four guys like that in the same lineup.

[Coolbreeze44]

Un

1 - Yes

2 - I honestly think the Wolves will get him. But I have no idea what will be going back to Philly, or whether it will take a third team.

This is from the first page in this thread.

I keep hearing they want to move him to the Western conference. I'm thinking Sacramento and Portland at this point.

Cool, I'm curious as to what transpired that made you change your take on where Ben Simmons lands. If you could point to something specific, that would be great. Thanks.

I believe I clarified this earlier in one of these threads, but I'd be happy to discuss again. What changed for me was I came to believe the 76ers had to get a good point guard back in any deal. And Maxey's performance last night illustrates why I was thinking that. As we all know, Rosas did not want to give DLO up in any deal. And I was reading that Morey wasn't particularly high on DLO. So because of these factors, I felt other teams had more to offer in terms of suitable point guards. I don't think a package built around Beverly would suffice for Morey. But that's basically it, I don't see how a deal gets done without the inclusion of DLO. Maybe with Rosas now gone, this changes somewhat.

[Phenom]

Interesting how the rumors involving the Pacers have shifted from Malcolm Brogdon to Caris LeVert. That could just be situational reporting, or it's another indication that Ben Simmons' trade value just isn't what Philadelphia thought it would be after they fumbled the entire off-season away. Brogdon is objectively the better player between himself and LeVert and one would think that the former would be who the Sixers preferred in return.

Additionally, is LeVert better than Malik Beasley? He's certainly the better shot creator and facilitator, but he's far from the shooter Beasley is. They both have issues defensively. When you add in that Beasley is two years younger and less expensive annually through 2023 while also having a team option on 2024, I think Beasley is the more attractive guard. That's just my opinion, though. Perhaps the league sees additional risk with Beasley because of his recent involvement with the law... but didn't LeVert have a cancerous mass removed on his kidney earlier this year? Not to mention, he hasn't played more than 47 games since 2017-18. I think the two are probably similar in trade value with their own risk factors involved.

This is all to say that I think Minnesota is definitely still in play for Simmons.

I find that interesting, too. I still think a deal with Indiana will involve Brogdon, not LeVert. But if it's true that LeVert, not Brogdon, is currently the table, then it's definitely more evidence of the low ebb in Simmons' trade value. I think LeVert's health issues tip the balance in favor of Beasley as the better value. Not only did LeVert have a cancerous kidney removed, but he now has a stress fracture in his back. I just don't see the Sixers trading Simmons for a package built around LeVert.

Now the report is the Sixers have inquired about Brogdon. If this is true it goes against previous reports that Brogdon was already offered for Simmons and more in line with my presumption that the Pacers haven't had a reason to offer him yet. His inclusion in an offer would probably be the crossroad for Minnesota to decide if they will formally offer DLo. Otherwise they cant compete with an offer with Brogdon in it.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Interesting how the rumors involving the Pacers have shifted from Malcolm Brogdon to Caris LeVert. That could just be situational reporting, or it's another indication that Ben Simmons' trade value just isn't what Philadelphia thought it would be after they fumbled the entire off-season away. Brogdon is objectively the better player between himself and LeVert and one would think that the former would be who the Sixers preferred in return.

Additionally, is LeVert better than Malik Beasley? He's certainly the better shot creator and facilitator, but he's far from the shooter Beasley is. They both have issues defensively. When you add in that Beasley is two years younger and less expensive annually through 2023 while also having a team option on 2024, I think Beasley is the more attractive guard. That's just my opinion, though. Perhaps the league sees additional risk with Beasley because of his recent involvement with the law... but didn't LeVert have a cancerous mass removed on his kidney earlier this year? Not to mention, he hasn't played more than 47 games since 2017-18. I think the two are probably similar in trade value with their own risk factors involved.

This is all to say that I think Minnesota is definitely still in play for Simmons.

I find that interesting, too. I still think a deal with Indiana will involve Brogdon, not LeVert. But if it's true that LeVert, not Brogdon, is currently the table, then it's definitely more evidence of the low ebb in Simmons' trade value. I think LeVert's health issues tip the balance in favor of Beasley as the better value. Not only did LeVert have a cancerous kidney removed, but he now has a stress fracture in his back. I just don't see the Sixers trading Simmons for a package built around LeVert.

Now the report is the Sixers have inquired about Brogdon. If this is true it goes against previous reports that Brogdon was already offered for Simmons and more in line with my presumption that the Pacers haven't had a reason to offer him yet. His inclusion in an offer would probably be the crossroad for Minnesota to decide if they will formally offer DLo. Otherwise they cant compete with an offer with Brogdon in it.

Would a deal with Indiana involve a 3rd team... or a 2nd trade.

Gotta say, I'm not a huge fan of the Sabonis, Turner and Simmons mix. Talented, but an odd mix.

[Phenom]

Interesting how the rumors involving the Pacers have shifted from Malcolm Brogdon to Caris LeVert. That could just be situational reporting, or it's another indication that Ben Simmons' trade value just isn't what Philadelphia thought it would be after they fumbled the entire off-season away. Brogdon is objectively the better player between himself and LeVert and one would think that the former would be who the Sixers preferred in return.

Additionally, is LeVert better than Malik Beasley? He's certainly the better shot creator and facilitator, but he's far from the shooter Beasley is. They both have issues defensively. When you add in that Beasley is two years younger and less expensive annually through 2023 while also having a team option on 2024, I think Beasley is the more attractive guard. That's just my opinion, though. Perhaps the league sees additional risk with Beasley because of his recent involvement with the law... but didn't LeVert have a cancerous mass removed on his kidney earlier this year? Not to mention, he hasn't played more than 47 games since 2017-18. I think the two are probably similar in trade value with their own risk factors involved.

This is all to say that I think Minnesota is definitely still in play for Simmons.

I find that interesting, too. I still think a deal with Indiana will involve Brogdon, not LeVert. But if it's true that LeVert, not Brogdon, is currently the table, then it's definitely more evidence of the low ebb in Simmons' trade value. I think LeVert's health issues tip the balance in favor of Beasley as the better value. Not only did LeVert have a cancerous kidney removed, but he now has a stress fracture in his back. I just don't see the Sixers trading Simmons for a package built around LeVert.

Now the report is the Sixers have inquired about Brogdon. If this is true it goes against previous reports that Brogdon was already offered for Simmons and more in line with my presumption that the Pacers haven't had a reason to offer him yet. His inclusion in an offer would probably be the crossroad for Minnesota to decide if they will formally offer DLo. Otherwise they cant compete with an offer with Brogdon in it.

Would a deal with Indiana involve a 3rd team... or a 2nd trade.

Gotta say, I'm not a huge fan of the Sabonis, Turner and Simmons mix. Talented, but an odd mix.

I agree Abe. I also think Brogdon and Simmons would make a really strong pairing and is likely their preference. If Brogdon isn't eventually made available, the market could stay floundered. For all we know Philly is trying to amp up the market by putting Brogdons name out there.

[Duke13]

A pretty savy GM is going to be swayed by the performance of 1 preseason game. Think about that for a second...

I have no idea what Morey is thinking or how he values DLo, but I'm pretty sure his opinion of his wasn't impacted my DLo's performance 2 nights ago.

[Lipoli390]

If the Sixers are as interested in Brogdon as they appear to be, I see Indiana as the most likely team to trade for Simmons. But perhaps the Pacers aren't all that interested in Simmons. What if Carlisle and the front office have taken a hard look at their team and concluded that they need to rebuild around LeVert, Sabonis and Isaiah Jackson? Perhaps the Wolves can enter the picture and Indiana could facilitate a 3-team deal that gets Simmons to Minnesota. I don't think it will happen, but here's one potential trade:

Wolves Get: Simmons

Sixers Get: Brogdon + Prince + Wolves 2024 1st (lottery protected) + two of the Wolves three 2022 2nd-round picks

Pacers Get: Beasley + McDaniels + Wolves 2022 1st-round pick (top 4 protected)